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THE 


KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD 


OBJECTIVELY    CONSIDERED. 


BEING 


THE   FIRST   PART    OF    THEOLOGY 


CONSIDERED 


AS  A  SCIENCE  OF  POSITIVE  TRUTH, 


BOTH   INDUCTIVE   AND   DEDUCTIVE. 


by 

ROBERT  J.  BRECKINRIDGE,  D.D.,  LLD., 

PROFESSOR  OF  THEOLOGY  IN  THE  SEMINARY    OF   DANVILLE,  KENTUCKY. 


SON        SINE      LUCE. 


NEW  YORK: 
ROBERT  CARTER  &   BROTHERS, 

LOUISVILLE:     A.    DAVIDSON. 

1869. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1857,  by 

ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


STEREOTYPED   BY  POINTED  BY 

f.    B.    Smith   &   Son,  E.    O.    Jenkins, 

82  &  84  Beekman-st. 


TO 


THE  PENITENT  AND  BELIEVING   FOLLOWERS 


THE    SAVIOUR    OF    SINNERS 


THIS    ATTEMPT    TO    VINDICATE    THEIR    FAITH 


IS    REVERENTLY    DEDICATED, 


IN  THE  DEEP  CONVICTION,  THAT  NEXT  TO  THE  APPROVAL  OF  GOD.  THEIR3 


IS  THE  VERY  HIGHEST  TESTIMONY  IT  COULD  RECEIVE. 


CONTENTS. 


nun 

PRZLDTIXAST  STATEMENT ix 

BOOK    I. 

MAN- 

Argument  of  the  First  Book 1 

Ciiap.  I. — The  actual  condition  of  Man  individually  considered 3 

II. — The  moral  condition  of  Man  as  it  is  socially  exhibited 11 

III. — The  ruin  of  the  Human  Race  universal  and  irremediable — the  cause 

and  the  mode  of  its  occurrence 22 

IV. — The  Divine  interposition  to  save  Man 36 

V. — Inquiry  into  the  Being  of  God ;  and  the  manner  thereof 47 

TI. — The  immortality  of  Man 58 


BOOK    II. 

THE     MEDIATOR 


Argument  of  the  Second  Book 71 

Chap.  ViL — Jesus  of  Xazareth — the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  the  "World  .     73 

Till. — Immanuel. — The  Mystery  of  the  Incarnation 90 

IX. — The  Mediator  between  God  and  Man 105 

X. — The  Humiliation,  and  the  Exaltation  of  the  Mediator :  his  two  estates  119 

XL — 0 Sices  executed  by  the  Mediator: — Christ  the  great  Teacher      .     .  139 

XII. — Offices  executed  by  the  Mediator: — Christ  the  great  High  Priest     .  1G1 

XIII. — Offices  executed  by  the  Mediator : — Christ  the  only  King  in  Zion    .  177 


VI  CONTENTS. 

BOOK    III. 

G  O  E>. 

PAGB 

Argument  op  the  Third  Book 197 

Chap.  XIV. — The  Names  of  God ;  Revealed  by  Himself  as  the  basis  of  our  Knowl- 
edge of  the  Godhead    199 

XV. — The  Mode  of  the  Divine  Existence :  Unity  of  Essence :  Trinity  of 

Persons 222 

XVI.— The  Doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost 239 

XVII. — The  Perfections  of  God :  General  Classification  of  the  Divine  At- 
tributes    . 2G0 

XVIII. — Primary  Attributes  of  God :  such  as  appertain  to  him,  considered 

merely  as  an  infinite  being 267 

XIX. — Essential  Attributes  of  God :  such  as  appertain  to  him  considered 

as  an  infinite,  Personal  Spirit 273 

XX. — Natural  Attributes  of  God :  such  as  appertain  to  him  considered 
with  reference  to  the  eternal  distinction  between  the  True  and 

the  False 284 

XXI. — Moral  Attributes  of  God :  such  as  appertain  to  him  considered  with 

reference  to  the  eternal  distinction  between  Good  and  Evil      .     .291 
XXII. — Consummate  Attributes  of  God :  such  as  appertain  to  him  consid- 
ered as  the  sum  of  all  infinite  perfections      310 


BOOK    IV. 

SOURCES     OF    KNOWLEDGE. 

Argument  of  the  Fourth  Book 317 

Chap.  XXIII. — Our  Knowledge  of  God  ;  General  Statement  concerning  the  mani- 
festations of  God 321 

XXIV.— God  manifest  in  his  "Works :  God  the  Creator  of  all  Things  .  .  332 
XXV. — God  manifest  in  his  infinite  dominion — the  God  of  Providence  .  345 
XXVI.— God  manifest  in  Human  Nature  ;  the  "Word  made  Flesh  ...  366 
XXVIL— God  manifest  in  the  New  Creation :  God  the  Holy  Ghost  .  .  .382 
XXVIII. — God  manifest  in  Revelation — the  God  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  .  405 
XXIX — God  manifest  in  the  Conscious  existence  of  Man :  God  the  Maker 

and  Renewer  of  the  Human  Soul 420 


CONTENTS.  vii 

BOOK    V. 

SUM     AND     RESULT. 

PAOB 

Argument  of  the  Fifth  Book 443 

Chap.  XXX.— The  Primeval  State  of  Man 447 

XXXI.— The  Covenant  of  Works 461 

XXXII— Origin  of  Evil:  Breach  of  the  Covenant  of  Works:  Kail  of  Man  : 

Ruin  of  the  Human  Race 483 

XXXIII. — The  Sum  and  Result  of  Iluman  Existence:  with  the  Sum  and  Re- 
sult of  the  Knowledge  of  God  objectively  considered    ....  503 
XXXIV. — The  Finite  and  the  Infinite  coalesce  in  Religion :  Gospel  Para- 
doxes:  Their  influence  and  Solution 521 


A  FEW  PRELIMINARY  WORDS. 


TRUE  CONCEPTION  OF  THEOLOGY ;  NATURAL  METHOD  OF  ITS  TREAT- 
MENT ;  PROPER  ORDER  OF  ITS  GREAT  ASPECTS. 

I  have  thought  that  it  would  have  been  of  great  advantage  to  mankind, 
in  many  ways,  if  it  had  happened  that  each  century  of  the  past  had  left 
to  us  in  a  distinct  form,  its  systematic  view  of  divine  truth,  according  to 
the  general  attainments  of  that  age,  and  the  general  faith  of  the  earnest 
Christians  thereof.  And  such  avast  and  constantly  accumulating  store  of 
the  means  of  estimating  the  perpetual  life  of  the  church  of  God,  and  of 
aids  to  a  complete  understanding  of  the  Word  of  Life,  would  be  only  the 
more  important  if  each  particular  contribution  to  it,  had  come  from  the 
bosom  of  one  or  other  of  the  grand  movements  of  the  church  in  each 
particular  age,  and  from  some  hand  which  God  had  used  therein.  It  has, 
in  general,  happened  far  otherwise.  From  the  bosom  of  most  of  the 
Christian  centuries,  nothing  of  the  sort  I  have  intimated  has  reached  us, 
and  probably  nothing  of  that  sort  existed  in  those  centuries.  From  many 
other  centuries,  what  has  come  down  to  us,  so  far  from  being  either  sys- 
tematic or  complete,  was  in  its  very  nature  fragmentary  and  partial. 
And  what  we  have  really  received  from  all  the  past,  out  of  the  bosom  of 
orthodox  Christianity,  in  the  way  of  complete  and  systematic  treatment  of 
the  whole  knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation — great  as  is  its  value  in  some 
respects,  and  numerous  as  have  been  such  attempts ;  appears  to  me  to 
leave  theology  as  a  pure  science  of  positive  truth,  in  the  disordered 
condition  of  many  inferior  sciences,  and  more  really  than  they,  needing 
to  be  restated  in  a  form,  as  far  as  possible  general,  but  at  the  same  time 
pimple,  natural,  and  complete.  Perhaps  the  spirit  of  our  existing  Chris- 
tianity amongst  the  orthodox,  is  not  unsuitable  to  such  an  attempt.  Per- 
haps the  type  of  Christian  life  in  the  church  of  which  I  am  a  minister, 
affords  some  advantages  toward  its  execution.  Perhaps  such  an  endeavor 
springing  from  the  midst  of  that  immense  reaction  toward  the  divine  life 
in  man,  which  signalized  that  church  in  this  age — retrieving  its  destiny 
and  modifying  the  Christianity  of  our  times,  might  not  be  without  its  use 
— if  it  could  survive.     Perhaps  there  are  special  reasons  why,  holding  the 


X  PRELIMINARY     REMARKS. 

views  I  do,  occupying  the  position  I  hold,  and  led  by  Providence  as  I 
have  been,  my  brethren  who  have  exacted  this  service  at  my  hands  might 
be  excused,  and  why  those  who  might,  perhaps  justly,  condemn  my 
attempt  as  rash,  might,  in  their  charity,  excuse  me. 

I  have  not  aimed  to  produce  a  compcnd  of  Theology.  I  aim  to  teach 
Theology  itself.  In  this,  God  alone,  and  by  means  of  the  manifestations 
which  he  makes  of  himself,  is  the  absolute  source,  as.  he  is  the  sole  object 
of  knowledge  unto  salvation.  It  is  this  Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation, 
which  I  accept  and  develop,  as  a  science  of  absolute  truth  :  and  these 
manifestations  of  God  to  man,  which  are  the  sole  means  of  this  knowledge, 
Avhich  I  attempt  to  demonstrate,  to  classify,  and  to  expound.  Creation, 
Providence,  the  Incarnation,  the  Work  of  the  Spirit,  the  Sacred  Scriptures 
and  the  Self-conscious  Existence  of  the  human  soul :  these  are  the  only 
manifestations  of  God  to  man — the  only  sources  of  the  true  Knowledge 
of  God,  by  man.  The  grand  departments  of  this  Knowledge  of  God,  are 
God  himself — the  God-man  who  is  Mediator  between  God  and  men — and 
man  himself  in  his  self-conscious  existence,  as  created  and  re-created  by 
God.  As  to  books,  in  such  a  science  as  this,  and  in  such  an  attempt  a= 
this,  the  Bible  is  the  only  one  having  any  authority.  And  yet  I  am  far 
from  undervaluing  the  immense  advantages  I  have  derived  from  the 
labors  of  others ;  without  which,  indeed,  I  could  have  done  nothing. 
The  fruits  of  such  attainments  as  I  have  painfully  made,  Avill  manifest 
themselves  to  the  learned  who  may  honor  me  by  considering  what  I 
advance.  I  know  too  well  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  been  in  his  church 
always,  to  treat  with  unconcern  the  deliverances  of  her  great  teachers, 
much  less  her  own  well  considered  utterances  of  her  constant  faith :  and 
I  perceive  clearly  enough,  that  on  such  a  subject  as  this,  and  after  so 
many  centuries  of  exalted  effort,  any  claim  of  proper  originality  touching 
the  subject  matter,  would  be  merely  a  confession  of  folly,  of  ignorance, 
and  of  error,  The  general  doctrine  of  this  Treatise  is  in  the  sense  of  the 
unalterable  faith  of  the  church  of  the  living  God — in  the  sense  of  all  the 
ancient  confessions  of  that  church — in  the  sense  of  the  orthodox  confes- 
sions of  the  Reformation — in  the  sense  of  the  standards  of  the  Westmins- 
ter Assembly — which  constitute  the  confession  of  so  large  a  part  of  the 
Christian  world,  and,  amongst  the  rest,  of  my  own  church.  The  details 
which  have  been  wrought  out  by  learned,  godly,  and  able  men  in  all  ages, 
of  many  creeds,  and  in  many  tongues,  have  been  freely  wrought  into  the 
staple  of  this  wrork,  when  they  suited  the  place  and  the  purpose,  and 
turned  precisely  to  my  thought.  That  for  which  I  alone  must  be  respon- 
sible, is  that  which  makes  the  work  individual  :  the  conception — the 
method — the  digestion — the  presentation — the  order — the  spirit — the 
impression  of  the  who'.e. — If,  however,  I  had  not  supposed  that  the  portion 


PRELIMINARY     REMARKS.  XI 

of  this  work  which  made  it  peculiar,  was  capable  of  being  used  to  the 
great  advantage  of  the  noblest  of  all  sciences,  commonly  denied  cither  the 
name  or  the  treatment  of  a  science,  I  should  not  have  considered  it  my 
duty  to  make  such  a  publication. 

While  I  have  evaded  nothing,  the  very  conception  on  which  I  proceed, 
makes  all  fundamental  truths  absolutely  vital ;  while  such  as  are  obscure, 
dubious,  or  secondary,  are  just  as  necessarily  reduced  to  their  true  position. 
Upon  some  points  which  have  always  agitated  the  Christian  mind,  I  have 
spoken  with  a  curtain  reserve,  dictated  alike  by  the  appreciation  I  had 
of  the  true  nature  of  those  questions,  and  of  my  official  position  as  a 
Teacher  of  Theology  appointed  by  a  church,  whose  Standards  were 
framed  by  men  holding  almost  opposite  views  on  those  points,  and  wisely 
avoiding  defining  them  as  of  faith.  It  is  also  proper  to  say,  that  in  the 
treatment  of  questions  demanding  the  most  rigid  analysis  or  the  most  com- 
pact demonstration,  these  high  processes,  great  as  is  my  trust  in  them, 
have  never  been  so  confidently  relied  on,  as  to  lose  sight  for  a  moment,  of 
the  necessity  of  that  true  spiritual  insight  into  divine  things,  upon  which 
such  an  attempt  as  this  must  rest,  above  all.  The  thoughtful  reader  will 
recognize  the  justice  of  these  observations,  and  perceive  the  effect  which 
the  principles  involved  in  them  must  exert  upon  an  attempt  to  recast  in 
a  form  at  once  natural  and  complete,  the  great  science  of  Christian  The- 
ology. 

In  such  works  as  this,  method  is  second  in  importance  only  to  the  con- 
ception of  the  nature  of  the  subject  matter  to  be  treated.  That  which  I 
have  adopted,  like  my  conception  of  Theology  itself,  seems  to  be  perfectly 
simple  and  clear.  Systematic  Theology  is  usually  divided  into  Exegetic, 
Didactic,  and  Polemic :  that  ie  Theology  as  deduced  directly  from  the 
original  Text  of  the  Word  of  God — Theology  as  systematically  deduced 
from  the  whole  of  divine  Revelation  according  to  the  whole  proportion  of 
faith — and  Theology  as  defended  from  all  untruth.  Now,  according  to 
my  idea,  the  whole  Knowledge  which  we  have,  or  can  have,  of  God  unto 
salvation,  divides  itself  into  three  simple,  obvious,  and  exhaustive  classes — 
or  aspects,  if  that  expression  is  preferred.  In  the  first  place,  the  whole 
of  that  Knowledge  may  be  considered  and  treated  as  mere  Knowledge — 
like  any  other  complete  and  positive  knowledge  :  that  is,  it  is  not  only  ca- 
pable of  a  purely  Objective  treatment,  but  to  be  understood  clearly  it  must 
be  treated  in  that  manner.  In  the  second  place,  that  Knowledge  of  God, 
in  its  intimate  and  transforming  effects  upon  man,  in  his  inner  life,  his 
nature,  his  condition,  his  destiny — is  not  only  capable  of  a  complete  Sub- 
jective treatment,  but  is  fully  comprehensible  in  its  effects,  only  so  far  as 
it  is  considered  in  that  manner.  This  distinction,  moreover,  accords  with 
the  fundamental  distinction  of  Philosophy,  as  applied  to  man ;  and,  what 


Xll  PRELIMINARY     REMARKS. 

is  better,  with  the  primeval  effort  of  our  intelligence,  in  taking  account  of 
itself,  to  distinguish  the  internal  from  the  external.  But  the  Knowledge 
of  God  Objectively  considered,  and  the  Knowledge  of  God  Subjectively 
considered — each  takes  in  the  whole  sum  and  result  of  Exgetic  and  Di- 
dactic Theology — and  presents  that  whole  sum  and  result,  once  as  pure, 
systematic  truth  unto  salvation — and  once  as  pure,  systematic  truth  ac- 
tually saving  man.  As  to  Polemic  Theology — it  is  very  obvious  that  it 
is  simply  the  systematic  confutation  of  all  untruth,  militating  against  the 
salvation  of  man ;  and  that  the  only  absolute  way  of  doing  this,  is  to  con- 
front it  with  divine  truth,  whether  Objective  or  Subjective,  unto  salvation. 
There  are,  therefore,  three  great  aspects  of  divine  Knowledge  unto  salva- 
tion, whenever  that  Knoweldge  is  considered  cither  as  positively  certain, 
as  constituting  a  true  science,  or  as  capable  of  being  taught  in  a  manner 
either  natural  or  exhaustive.  These  are  the  knowledge  of  God  consid- 
ered Objectively,  considered  Subjectively,  and  considered  Relatively. 
This  volume  embraces  the  first  of  those  three  portions  of  Christian  The- 
ology— the  first  of  those  three  aspects  of  Divine  Truth :  and  its  main 
object  is  to  present  in  a  perfectly  distinct  and  connected  manner,  and  to 
demonstrate  as  positively  certain,  the  sum  and  system  of  divine  Knowl- 
edge, simply  as  Knowledge,  unto  salvation. 

I  am  not  aware  that  either  the  conception  I  have  of  this  immense  sub- 
ject, or  the  method  I  adopt  in  developing  it,  or  the  order  I  pursue  in 
treating  it — has  been  distinctly  recognized  hitherto,  as  a  basis  either  of 
inquiry  or  instruction  in  Theology.  There  is  this  explanation  of  the  ordi- 
nary method  of  treating  divine  Knowledge,  as  appears  to  me  in  a  manner 
at  once  arbitrary  and  artificial ;  that  the  idea  has  possessed  the  minds  of 
learned  teachers,  that  God  himself,  in  his  blessed  AVord,  had  observed  no 
particular  method  of  stating,  or  even  of  revealing  divine  truth.  But  if 
this  were  strictly  true,  it  would  not  justify  us  in  substituting  an  arbitrary 
and  artificial  method  for  a  natural  and  scientific  one,  when  we  expressly 
set  out  to  give  systematic  instruction.  Because  divine  truth,  being  of 
itself  perfect  at  every  stage  of  its  development — having  no  error  in  it — 
never  requiring  any  modification  of  what  is  once  known,  by  reason  of  any 
further  revelation  added  ;  is  necessarily  capable  of  systematic  reduction  at 
every  stage  of  its  progress,  and  from  any  point  of  view.  Moreover,  the 
nature  of  God  and  his  relations  to  all  truth  are  such,  that  it  very  illy 
becomes  us  to  say,  that  with  reference  to  himself,  his  statements  are  not 
equally  systematic  in  every  order,  and  to  whatever  extent  he  might  make 
them.  Absolutely  considered,  what  we  should  say  is  that  divine  truth  is 
necessarily  revealed  after  a  divine  method.  When  we  apply  the  idea  that 
there  is  no  method  in  divine  revelation,  not  to  God,  but  to  ourselves ;  it 
seems  to  me,  that  we  are,  if  possible,  more  mistaken  than  before.     For,  in 


PRELIMINARY      REMARKS.  XU1 

effect,  we  arc  naturally  incompetent  to  acquire  Knowledge,  in  any  proper 
sense,  independently  of  perceiving  between  the  parts  of  Knowledge,  rela- 
tions to  each  other  which  are  both  permanent  and  systematic :  so  that,  on 
the  condition  supposed,  we  could  know  divine  truths  only  as  so  many  iso- 
lated propositions,  wholly  unfruitful :  and  we  could  know  them  even  in 
that  manner,  only  with  this  perpetual  badge  of  apparent  untruth,  that 
they  refused  not  only  to  accord  with  any  known  truths,  but  even  to  accord 
among  themselves.  Besides,  it  is  demonstrably  certain  on  the  face  of  the 
sacred  record,  that  all  Revelation  has  been  given  in  a  perfectly  systematic 
manner,  with  reference  to  human  intelligence — that  it  all  professes  ex- 
pressly to  be  one  glorious  whole,  and  demands  of  us  in  terms,  that  to 
which  our  very  nature  obliges  us,  namely,  the  interpretation  of  it  all 
according  to  its  own  proportion,  and  as  an  outbirth  of  the  eternal  counsel 
of  God.  The  only  possible  question  for  us,  therefore,  is  a  choice  of  meth- 
ods :  and  so  they  practically  admit,  who  adopt  some  method,  and  follow 
some  system,  even  while  they  imagine  God  does  neither  with  regard  to 
us.  If  it  shall  be  found  that  the  method  I  adopt  is  in  harmony  with  the 
fundamental  principle  of  all  Reformed  churches,  touching  the  sufficiency 
of  the  Scriptures — and  with  the  fundamental  impulse  of  the  Christianity 
of  this  age,  touching  the  pursuit  of  divine  Knowledge  upon  the  sacred 
text — and  with  the  fundamental  spirit  of  Philosophy  in  its  present  post" 
urc :  then  it  will  stand,  and  it  will  bear  fruit. 

Within  certain  limits,  the  possible  order  of  developing  this  most  diffi- 
cult part  of  Knowledge  attainable  by  man,  is  somewhat  more  indetermi- 
nate than  either  the  method  of  treating  the  subject,  or  the  conception  of 
the  subject  itself.  Naturally  the  Subjective  Knowledge  of  God  might  per- 
haps go  first  in  order ;  since  it  is  the  true  inward  Knowledge  of  him 
which  prompts  us  to  the  diligent  search  of  all  outward  Knowledge  of  him, 
and  to  the  clear  statement  and  defence  of  both  these  Knowledges  against 
all  errors.  Still  this  Subjective  Knowledge  in  its  power  and  efficacy,  is 
not  the  mere  force  of  truth  by  itself — but  of  truth  accompanied  by  the 
power  of  God,  and  acting  upon  a  soul  divinely  restored  to  the  likeness  of 
God.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Relative  Knowledge  of  God,  that  divine 
Knowledge  confronting  all  opposing  systems,  beginning  with  the  settle- 
ment of  the  claims  of  the  divine  Word  itself,  and  clearing  the  whole  area 
where  truth  may  expatiate  freely ;  might  apparently  demand  the  lead  in 
the  studies  of  those,  who  are  prepared  to  enter  upon  such  inquiries  in  all 
their  great  proportions.  And  then  the  Objective  Knowledge  of  God, 
might  justly  urge  as  a  ground  of  precedence  in  the  order  of  treatment,  the 
extreme  directness  of  the  way  wdiich  opens  into  it,  and  through  it  to  both 
the  other  aspects  of  divine  Knowledge.  Unquestionably,  there  is  no 
proper  order,  but  one  of  these  three :  unquestionably,  neither  of  these  is 


XIV  PRELIMINARY     REMARKS. 

absolutely  and  universally  preclusive  of  the  other  two,  as  the  starting- 
point  of  our  inquiries.  Whether  we  observe  it  or  not,  divine  truth  so  far 
as  we  master  it  and  use  it,  falls  into  this  division,  no  matter  what  artificial 
methods  may  obscure  it  and  encumber  us,  in  our  efforts  to  obtain  it. 
And  under  each  of  these  aspects  of  it,  a  complete  view  of  divine  truth — 
at  least  in  its  outline — is  indispensable  to  the  perfect  comprehension  of  the 
particular  view  specially  considered  :  while  each  of  the  three  special  views 
of  it,  is  supplemental  to  the  other  two  special  views  of  it :  and  while  all 
three  of  them  unitedly,  make  but  one  complete  whole.  It  is  truth  com- 
plete in  itself — complete  in  its  effects — complete  in  its  antagonism  to  er- 
ror :  self-completeness — effective  completeness — victorious  completeness. 

It  is  in  the  sense  qualified  by  these  considerations,  that  the  Treatise 
now  published  is  called  the  First  Part  of  Theology — and  that  the  Object- 
ive view  of  the  Knowledge  of  God,  is  given  the  first  place  in  a  work  de- 
signed if  the  Lord  permit,  to  embrace  in  the  end  the  whole  subject,  in  a 
form  at  once  thorough  and  simple.  If  the  execution  bears  any  proportion 
to  the  design,  this  volume  contains  a  distinct  outline  of  the  whole  Knowl- 
edge of  God  attainable  by  man  unto  salvation,  Objectively  considered* 
Its  whole  conception  is  that  the  Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation  is  a  sci- 
ence of  positive  truth,  both  inductive  and  deductive.  Commencing  with 
elements  simple  and  undeniable,  the  progress  is  always  direct  and  always 
cumulative — like  the  progress  of  any  other  science  of  positive  truth.  All 
Polemics  are  turned  over  to  their  proper  place  and  treatment,  under  the 
Relative  consideration  of  divine  truth  ;  at  the  head  of  which  will  stand 
the  establishment  of  it,  and  the  body  of  which  will  embrace  the  defence  of 
it.  Divine  Knowledge  is  a  Gospel :  it  is  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  man 
which  make  it  appear  to  be  an  arena — and  rob  the  systematic  treatment 
of  it  of  so  much  of  its  unction.  The  order  in  which  I  have  sought  to 
develop  my  method  of  treating  this  divine  Knowledge,  commencing  writh 
man  as  he  is — conducts  us  by  the  shortest  way  immediately  to  the  Mediator 
between  God  and  men — and  through  him  to  the  transcendent  glory  and  mys- 
tery of  God  :  after  which  the  very  nature  and  sources  of  this  whole  Knowl- 
edge are  subjected  to  scrutiny — and  then  the  sum  and  result  of  all,  is  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  sum  and  result  of  all  the  dealings  of  God  with  mam 
What  appears  to  me  to  be  attainable  is,  that  all  confusion  should  be 
escaped,  that  all  dislocation  of  truth  should  be  avoided,  that  clear  state- 
ments should  become  really  convincing  proofs,  that  the  grand  proportion 
of  faith  should  reign  without  distortion,  that  the  sublime  science  of  God 
should  emerge  distinctly  from  the  chaos  of  endless  disputations,  and  that 
the  unction  of  a  glorious  gospel  should  pervade  the  whole. 

The  narrowness  of  the  space  I  had  allotted  to  myself,  when  compared 
with  the  boundless  nature  of  the  theme,  every  where  embarrassed  me.     I 


PRELIMINARY     REMARKS.  XV 

fear  the  corresponding  evils  may  embarrass  the  reader.  lie  may  justly 
complain  that  much  is  omitted — and  that  the  whole  performance  is  too 
elliptical  and  condensed.  I  have  sought  such  remedies  as  were  in  my 
power.  If  I  may  so  speak,  the  whole  system  is  presented  three  times : 
once,  in  the  whole  volume  ;  once  in  the  tables  of  contents  at  the  heads  of 
the  chapters ;  and  once  in  the  Arguments  prefixed  to  the  several  Books. 
Moreover,  while  the  whole  volume  contains  a  system  so  compact,  that  the 
loss  of  any  chapter  would  mutilate  the  general  argument;  on  the  other 
hand  nearly  every  chapter,  and  certainly  each  of  the  five  Books,  might  be 
published  as  a  separate  treatise.  I  am  not  aware  that  a  single  topic — I 
believe  I  may  say  a  single  sentence — foreign  to  the  absolute  purpose  of 
the  Treatise,  has  been  allowed  a  place  in  this  Volume.  The  whole  system 
of  division  and  notation — books,  chapters,  paragraphs,  subdivisions — 
has  followed  the  sense  and  the  course  of  the  general  and  particular  argu- 
ment and  proof,  with  perfect  strictness.  The  style  attempted  is  wholly 
devoid  of  ornament,  and  aims  only  at  being  clear,  simple  and  direct. 
The  tone  of  the  work — that  crowning  mark — the  reader,  will,  of  course* 
determine  for  himself.  If  the  effect  of  the  whole  shall  be,  to  make  the 
common  reader  desire  to  become  a  better  man — to  make  the  careful  stu- 
dent resolve  to  become  a  better  theologian,  to  make  both  of  them  aware 
that  infallible  Knowledge  of  the  living  God,  unto  salvation,  is  attainable 
by  man :  then  I  shall  not  only  be  consoled  with  one  more  proof  that  I 
have  not  lived  in  vain,  but  shall  have  one  more  reason  to  glorify  God  for 
condescending  to  use  my  poor  endeavours  in  his  cause. 

Br-EDAlbane,  near  Lexington,, Kentucky, 
August,  1857. 


THE   KNOWLEDGE   OF   GOD, 

OBJECTIVELY    CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT   OF   THE  FIRST  BOOK. 

The  supreme  importance  of  the  knowledge  of  God  to  us.  arises  from  the 
decisive  influence  of  that  knowledge  upon  our  personal  destiny  both  in  this 
world,  and  the  next :  a  matter  which  concerns  us  more  nearly  than  all  thing3 
else  united.  But  to  know  our  own  nature  and  condition  is  the  first  step  toward 
making  the  knowledge  of  God  available : — while  the  study  of  ourselves,  as  the 
only  work  of  God  made  in  his  own  image,  is  the  simplest  and  surest  commence- 
ment of  the  systematic  study  of  him.  This  First  Book,  therefore,  of  a  Treatise 
devoted  to  the  thorough  consideration  of  God  as  an  object  of  knowledge,  pro- 
poses to  discuss  and  settle  the  fundamental  truths  which  determine  the  position 
of  man  before  God.  In  the  First  Chapter,  man  contemplated  as  an  Individual 
Being — a  separate  force  in  the  universe — is  carefully  considered.  In  the  Second 
Chapter,  this  consideration  is  extended  to  him  contemplated  in  all  the  perma- 
nent relations  in  which  he  successively,  and  unavoidably  cooperates  with  other 
beings  like  himself — to  wit.  as  one  of  a  race  organized  into  Households,  into 
Nations,  and  into  Religions.  It  is  shown  in  both  Chapters  that  man's  estate,  in 
all  its  possible  aspects,  is  one  of  sin  and  misery :  and  in  the  mean  time,  all  the 
chief  questions  touching  both  his  nature  and  his  estate,  both  individual  and 
social,  are  discussed  in  their  order,  and  the  foundations  of  his  being  laid  open. 
In  the  Third  Chapter,  it  is  shown  at  large  that  this  ruined  condition  of  man  i3 
universal  and  irremediable — except  by  means  of  some  Intervention  of  God 
inscrutable  to  human  reason :  and  as  part  of  the  proof  of  the  universality  of 
the  ruin  of  the  human  race,  its  own  unity  is  proved.  It  is  then  shown  how 
Revealed  Religion  accepts  and  solves  this  problem  of  man's  ruin  and  deliver- 
ance :  and  its  first  explanation  of  the  cause  and  mode  of  the  rain  itself  is 
exhibited.  The  Fourth  Chapter  is  devoted  to  a  general  exposition  of  the  fact, 
the  manner,  the  objects,  and  the  principles  of  the  divine  Interposition  which 


2  ARGUMENT    OF    THE    FIRST    BOOK. 

has  actually  occurred  :  and  heroin  the  rian  of  Salvation  is  summarily  exhibited. 

As  the  whole  of  this  necessarily  depends  on  the  Being  and  Perfections  of  God, 
we  are  led  immediately  to  the  question  of  the  divine  Existence  and  Nature: 
and  the  Fifth  Chapter  is  devoted  to  a  demonstration  of  the  eternal  existence  of 
aA  Infinite  Spirit,  who  is  the  First  Cause  of  all  things,  the  Creator  and  Kuler 
of  the  Universe,  the  Jehovah  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  the  Saviour  of  sin- 
ners. And  then  in  the  Sixth  Chapter,  which  is  the  last  one  of  this  First  Book, 
the  Immortality  of  this  fallen  creature,  thus  rescued  by  his  Infinite  Creator  and 
Redeemer,  at  so  great  a  cost,  is  demonstrated  according  to  its  proper  nature,  and 
by  a  method  competent  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  Christian  idea  of  that  Immor- 
tality, and  the  falsity  of  every  other  idea  of  it.  A  complete  survey  of  man  is 
thus  accomplished  ;  while  it  is  the  knowledge  of  God  himself  in  the  light  of 
which  the  survey  is  made ;  and  that  divine  knowledge  is  augmented  at  every 
step  of  the  survey.  Besides  all  truths  herein  set  forth  which  may  be  considered 
inferior  or  incidental  to  the  chief  results  of  this  Book,  those  which  follow  and 
which  are  fundamental,  are  firmly  established,  namely.  The  fall  and  ruin  of  the 
human  race :  The  irreparable  nature,  of  itself,  of  our  estate  of  sin  and  misery  : 
The  divine  Interposition  to  save  man :  The  Infinite  Existence  and  Perfections 
of  the  God  who  has  thus  interposed  to  save  man :  The  Immortal  Existence  of 
man,  in  whose  nature  God  has  become  Incarnate. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE     ACTUAL     CONDITION     OF    MAN— INDIVIDUALLY    CONSIDERED. 

1.  Concerning  the  Nature  of  Man. — 2.  His  Individualism. — 3.  Personality. — 4.  Per- 
sonal Destiny. — 5.  Sense  of  Accountability. — 6.  Perversion  of  these  Elements. — 
7.  Sense  of  Blameworthiness. — 8.  Sense  of  True  and  False. — 9.  Sense  of  Good 
and  Evil. — 10.  Our  Faculties  Incompetent  to  the  complete  Application  of  these 
Distinctions. — 11.  Our  Nature  Depraved.  Fallen,  but  Susceptible  of  Recovery. — 
12.  Our  Evil  Passions,  and  their  Indulgence.  Universal  Pollution. — 13.  Our  State 
of  Sinfulness  a  State  of  Misery  also.  The  Hope  from  Thence. — 14.  Nature  and 
Universality  of  that  Misery. — 15.  The  Condition  of  Man  in  Contrast  with  that 
of  Irrational  Creatures,  of  Lost  Spirits,  and  of  Devils. — 16.  The  Bearing  of  tho 
Original  Elements  of  his  Nature  upon  its  Present  Pollution  and  Misery. — 17. 
Conclusion. 

1.  In  examining  the  condition  of  man,  as  lie  exists  before  us, 
we  are  to  form  an  estimate  of  him,  according  to  the  received 
chronology,  after  nearly  six  thousand  years  of  progress.  If  after 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  that  vast  period,  we  find  in  him  distin- 
guishing and  universal  traits,  which  have  existed  through  all 
time  and  in  all  conditions,  and  have  survived  every  influence 
which  has  borne  upon  him,  we  need  not  hesitate  to  pronounce 
them  necessary  and  indestructible  parts  of  his  nature. 

2.  The  simplest  view  which  can  be  taken  of  him,  is  as  an 
individual  being — acting  by  himself  and  for  himself,  upon  his 
own  responsibility  and  to  his  own  ends,  in  the  midst  of  innum- 
erable beings  like  himself.  Wants,  which,  however  they  may 
press  on  others,  are  peculiarly  his  :  passions,  which,  however 
they  may  be  common  to  all,  burn  in  him  with  a  special  fervor  : 
purposes,  which,  though  they  may  actuate  all,  urge  him  with  an 
intimate  force  :  hopes,  which  every  one  may  cherish,  but  to 
accomplish  which,  is,  with  him,  the  very  end  of  his  being.  And 
so  in  every  thing,  the  separate  action,  the  intense  individualism, 
the  personal  development,  the  immediate  responsibility  of  each 
particular  being,  in  one  word  his  separate  life  and  personality  is 


4  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

his  most  obvious,  as  it  is  his  most  inherent  and  fruitful  charac- 
teristic. 

3.  The  Scriptures  teach  us  that  God  created  man  in  his  own 
image.  If  this  he  true,  the  result  already  noticed  is  the  one 
most  certain  to  occur.  In  all  the  universe  there  is  no  absolute 
and  purely  independent  existence,  but  God  only.  And  it  is  only 
so  far  as  created  and  dependent  existences  are  made  in  his  image, 
and  conform  to  the  mode  of  his  being,  that  each  one  would  be  a 
separate  power  in  the  universe,  precisely  proportionate  to  its 
resemblance  to  him.  On  the  other  hand,  this  fundamental 
peculiarity  of  man  affords  a  kind  of  evidence  at  once  striking 
and  particular,  of  the  mode  of  that  unsearchable  existence  in  the 
image  of  which  his  own  was  fashioned — an  existence,  namely, 
absolutely  personal,  and  wholly  distinct  from  the  universe  which 
he  has  created.  These  are  truths  of  the  highest  importance,  and 
will  demand  careful  attention  hereafter. 

4.  One  of  the  most  distinct  and  unalterable  conditions  of  this 
separate  and  yet  dependent  existence  of  man,  is  that  his  eminent 
responsibility  should  be  a  personal  responsibility — each  one  an- 
swering for  himself  directly  to  his  Creator.  However  much  and 
however  variously  we  may  be  involved  with  others,  and  whether 
in  their  blessings  or  their  miseries — still  our  destiny  is  pre- 
eminently a  personal  destiny.  It  is  our  personal  freedom,  our 
personal  intelligence,  our  personal  dependence,  our  personal  ac- 
countability— terminating,  at  last,  in  a  personal  destiny,  shaped 
under  the  personal  dealing  of  God  with  each  one  of  us. 

5.  The  corresponding  indwelling  sense  of  our  personal  ac- 
countability is  one  of  the  most  marked  and  universal  character- 
istics of  our  nature.  Even  in  our  intercourse  with  our  fellow- 
creatures,  we  habitually  and  continually  proceed  upon  the  truth, 
as  though  it  was  indisputable  and  universally  accepted,  that  they 
are  responsible  to  us,  and  we  to  them,  not  only  for  sucli  things  as 
human  laws  take  cognizance  of — but  for  all  things.  And  that 
inherent  conviction,  which  lies  in  the  very  depths  of  our  being, 
that  we  are  personally  accountable  to  a  power  separate  from  us 
and  infinitely  superior  to  us,  which  men  in  all  ages  and  places 
have  called  God  ;  opens  before  us  the  whole  field  of  the  religious 
history  of  the  human  race.  Our  dependence  on  him  is  felt  to  be 
absolute  :  his  dominion  over  us  to  be  illimitable.  Endowed,  as 
we  feel  ourselves  to  be,  with  freedom  and  intelligence  ;  to  bo 


CHAP.  I.]  INDIVIDUAL    MAN.  5 

destitute  of  a  sense  of  accountability  under  these  conditions,  can- 
not occur,  and  cannot  be  conceived  of,  except  as  we  conceive  of 
whatever  else  we  call  a  monster.  Here,  then,  on  the  one  hand, 
is  the  basis  in  us  of  all  that  we  call  religion  :  on  the  other  hand, 
the  clear  manifestation  that  religion,  in  its  widest  sense,  is  as 
natural  to  man,  as  it  is  natural  for  him  to  be  what  he  is,  and.  to 
occupy  the  place  he  does  in  the  created  universe. 

G.  The  outworking-,  in  blindness  and  error,  of  this  powerful 
individualism  on  the  side  of  our  religious  nature  ;  this  sense  of 
personal  accountability,  striving  to  please  God  or  to  propitiate  him 
— or  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  our  religious  instincts — has  been 
the  foundation  of  all  the  false  human  religions  which  have  existed, 
and  of  all  their  folly  and  wickedness.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
attempts  to  allay  the  pungency  of  this  sense  of  personal  account- 
ability to  God,  by  false  and  insufficient  methods,  have  been 
constant  marks  of  the  perversions  of  all  true  and  divine  religion 
at  any  time  in  the  world.  The  papal  superstition  by  coming 
between  God  and  man  and  relieving  the  soul  by  assuming  its 
burdens  and  obligations  :  the  Pelagian  heresy  by  mitigating  the 
nature  and  the  power  of  sin  :  the  madness  of  universalism  by 
robbing  the  justice  of  God  of  all  terror  to  the  wricked  :  these, 
and  innumerable  forms  of  obscuring  the  way  of  life,  do  no  more 
really  assail  the  majesty  of  God,  than  they  pervert  the  intimate 
life  of  the  human  soul. 

7.  In  the  midst  of  these  striking  peculiarities  of  our  nature 
— if  not  indeed,  at  the  root  of  them  all — lies  that  profound  sense 
of  our  own  insufficiency  and  blame-worthiness,  which  is  so  signal 
an  exponent  of  our  present  condition  on  earth,  and  so  conspicuous 
an  element  in  every  change  of  which  that  condition  is  susceptible. 
Every  human  being  in  estimating  every  other  human  being,  per- 
ceives and  admits  that,  of  themselves,  they  are  not  perfect,  and 
cannot  render  an  account  of  themselves  with  absolute  security 
and  satisfaction,  in  the  face  of  any  perfect  rule  of  conduct :  and 
every  one,  in  carefully  judging  himself,  sees  and  feels  only  the 
more  keenly  as  he  has  the  more  variously  and  the  more  thoroughly 
tried  himself,  that  he  is  not  perfectly  sufficient  for  any  part  he 
was  ever  called  to  act,  and  that  he  is  not  perfectly  exempt  from 
blame-worthiness  in  any  serious  crisis  of  his  being.  So  thorough 
and  so  universal  are  the  causes  upon  which  all  this  depends,  that 
no  matter  what  rule  of  conduct  or  of  judgment  is  laid  down  for 


6  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

us,  or  what  we  lay  clown  for  ourselves,  we  never  come  up  to  the 
prescribed  rule,  with  absolute  fulness,  if  the  rule  itself  satisfies 
the  reason  and  conscience  of  him  who  attempts  to  follow  it.  No 
law  which  we  violate  can  acquit  us  ;  and  even  if  it  were  possible 
that  it  could,  our  case  would  be  only  the  more  pitiable.  For  our 
heart  and  our  understanding  would  take  part  against  the  law 
itself,  and  our  very  rule  of  right  become  either  a  means  of  pollu- 
tion, or  an  object  of  contempt  to  us  ;  while  our  very  sense  of 
blame-worthiness  sets  out  with  the  admission,  that  we  have  come 
short  of  some  standard  which  we  ourselves  approve.  How 
strange  a  condition  is  that  in  which  our  actions  come  short  of  our 
intentions — in  which  our  conduct  does  not  satisfy  our  reason — in 
which  our  passions  stand  as  perpetual  culprits  at  the  tribunal  of 
our  conscience  ! 

8.  There  is,  doubtless,  an  eternal  and  ineffaceable  distinction 
in  things,  which  we  express  by  saying  some  of  them  are  true  and 
some  of  them  are  false.  At  any  rate,  such  a  distinction,  let  it  be 
founded  as  it  may,  exists  for  us  ;  and  nature  has  provided  us 
with  the  faculty  of  perceiving  it,  and  using  it,  and  being  guided 
by  it.  It  is  upon  the  steadfastness  of  this  distinction  that  the 
certainty  of  all  our  knowledge  dejDends ;  as  it  is  upon  our  capacity 
to  perceive  the  distinction  itself  wherever  it  exists,  that  our  ability 
to  increase  in  knowledge  rests.  It  is  here  precisely  that  our 
rational  nature  expatiates,  and  here  is  the  foundation  of  all  the 
relations  subsisting  between  that  rational  nature  and  every  thing 
in  the  universe  exterior  to  ourselves.  If  it  were  not  so  in  both 
respects,  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  understand  how  our  condition 
could  be  su23erior  to  that  of  the  brutes. 

9.  Nor  is  this  all.  Not  inferior  in  any  respect  to  the  dis- 
tinction already  pointed  out,  there  exists  another  as  eternal  and 
ineffaceable  as  it — or  at  any  rate  it  exists  as  absolutely  for  us  ; 
and  nature  has  provided  us  as  distinctly  with  the  capacity  to 
perceive  it,  to  use  it,  and  to  be  guided  by  it.  We  express  this 
distinction  by  saying,  that  in  the  nature  of  things  some  of  them 
are  good,  and  some  of  them  are  bad  ;  and  we  express  the  feeling 
in  us  corresponding  to  them  respectively,  by  saying  we  approve 
the  good,  and  condemn  the  bad.  Upon  the  steadfastness  of  this 
distinction  rests  the  entire  fabric  of  the  moral  universe — amongst 
the  rest  our  own  moral  nature  :  and  upon  our  ability  to  perceive 
the  distinction  and  to  be  affected  by  it,  depends  our  capacity  to 


CHAP.  I.]  INDIVIDUAL    MAN.  7 

increase  in  all  moral  excellence.  The  fitness  of  all  our  relations 
to  God  ceases  the  moment  we  obliterate  this  distinction  : — the 
very  ideas  of  duty,  of  virtue,  and  of  happiness,  become  incom- 
prehensible ;  nor  is  it  possible  to  conceive  how  we  could  exist 
afterwards,  except  as  idiots  or  as  demons. 

10.  It  is  in  the  midst  of  these  great  characteristics  of  our 
nature  that  we  encounter  one  of  those  profound  contradictions, 
of  which  the  number  is  so  great  and  the  effects  so  remarkable, 
that  the  very  structure  of  our  being  and  the  total  manner  of  its 
operation,  exhibit  the  clearest  proofs  of  its  having  received  some 
fearful  shock.  The  rational  faculties  of  man  do  not  enable  him 
to  determine  either  absolutely  or  invariably,  what  particular 
things  are  true  and  what  are  false  ;  nor  do  his  moral  faculties 
enable  him  to  determine  in  like  manner,  what  particular  things 
are  good  and  what  are  evil.  The  reality  of  these  distinctions  is 
perceived  to  exist  as  a  fundamental  part  of  the  order  of  the 
universe,  and  corresponding  operations  of  our  rational  and  moral 
nature  are  felt  and  known  to  be  immediately  connected  with 
them.  But  our  faculties,  in  their  present  state,  are  so  far  from 
being  adequate  to  avail  themselves  perfectly  and  universally 
thereof,  that  they  are  liable  to  the  greatest  mistakes  and  the 
grossest  impositions  touching  both  the  true  and  the  good.  While 
these  deplorable  results  occur  in  a  very  low  degree  in  certain 
departments  of  human  intelligence  and  effort,  they  occur  in  a 
very  high  degree  in  others  ;  and  it  is  especially  in  man's  spirit- 
ual life,  and  in  all  his  moral  relations  to  Grod  and  to  his  fellow- 
creatures,  that  they  manifest  themselves  with  the  greatest  in- 
tensity. 

11.  Our  present  condition,  then,  may  well  be  called  a  de- 
praved condition  ;  and  it  is  of  our  spiritual  life  in  its  most  fun- 
damental characteristics  that  we  may  thus  speak  with  peculiar 
emphasis.  Man,  as  he  now  exists,  cannot  rely  with  certainty 
and  security  upon  the  conclusions  of  his  understanding  and  the 
dictates  of  his  conscience  in  the  highest  and  most  important 
concerns  of  his  soul.  And  yet  so  urgent  and  so  universal  are  his 
religious  wants,  and  so  deeply  seated  in  his  nature  is  the  sense  of 
his  dependence,  his  accountability,  and  his  blame- worthiness,  that 
he  will  accept  any  thing  as  true  rather  than  believe  nothing,  and 
cling  to  any  thing  as  good,  rather  than  be  deprived  of  all  trust. 
There  is  thus  exhibited  to  us  continually  and  on  every  side,  the 


8  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

proof  of  that  terrible  phenomenon  which  the  Scriptures  call  the 
Fall  of  Man  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  the  power  with  which  the 
spiritual  element  in  his  nature  still  struggles — the  proof  of  his 
susceptibility  of  that  divine  restoration  which  is  provided  through 
the  Son  of  God. 

12.  With  the  reason  and  conscience  of  man  in  such  a  state  as 
has  been  described,  it  would  be  idle  to  look  for  purity  of  heart 
and  life,  even  if  his  passions  were  slow  and  dull.  But  when  we 
consider  their  violence,  the  innumerable  occasions  of  indulging 
them,  the  urgency  of  the  temptations  which  assail  them,  and  the 
nature  of  the  present  gratification  afforded  by  their  indulgence, 
there  is  surely  no  reason  to  marvel  that  the  life  of  each  individ- 
ual person  and  the  common  life  of  the  whole  race,  should  ex- 
hibit so  little  which  reason  can  approve,  or  true  religion  allow, 
or  a  righteous  God  fail  to  condemn.  If  reason,  or  conscience,  or 
nature,  or  God,  imposes  any  rule  of  duty  upon  individual  men, 
the  violation  of  which  is  in  any  respect  sinful,  we  see  in  the  very 
nature  of  man  as  he  actually  exists,  how  the  whole  world  must 
necessarily  abound  with  iniquity  just  in  proportion  to  the  extent 
and  the  purity  of  the  rule  of  duty  thus  prescribed  to  us.  And 
this  terrible  conclusion  to  which  the  very  nature  of  the  case 
drives  us,  does  not  rise  to  the  still  more  terrible  reality  exhibited 
as  the  actual  and  constant  result  of  the  moral  conduct  of  man- 
kind in  their  natural  state,  as  attested  by  the  universal  experi- 
ence of  all  ages.  The  whole  world  lieth  in  sin,  and  the  whole 
race  of  man  is  guilty  before  God. 

13.  One  great  end  gained  by  striving  to  train  a  sinful  race  to 
virtue,  is  that  a  standard  of  judgment  is  erected  for  them, 
which,  if  they  come  not  up  to  it,  may  at  least  suffice  to  keep 
them  from  being  at  ease  while  they  fall  below  it,  and  may  thus 
prevent  them  from  pursuing  sin  as  a  means  of  happiness.  When 
we  consider  how  difficult  it  is  to  wean  men  from  vice,  even  after 
they  are  fully  persuaded  that  vice  is  not  good  for  them  ;  it  is 
easy  to  see  how  hopeless  would  be  all  attempts  to  bring  them  to 
repentance,  if  it  were  in  the  order  of  providence  that  they  could 
be  happy  in  sin.  It  is,  therefore,  not  only  a  most  pregnant  ne- 
cessity, but  it  is  besides  an  unspeakable  mercy,  that  the  state  of 
sin  into  which  man  is  fallen  is  also  a  state  of  misery  :  since,  nat- 
urally considered,  therein  lies  the  chief  hope  of  his  recovery. 

14.  The  detailed  exposition  of  the  nature  of  that  misery  which 


CH  AI\  I.]  INDIVIDU  A  L    M  A  N.  9 

is  entailed  on  man  in  his  present  sinful  condition,  will  occupy  us 
hereafter.  It  may  suffice  at  present  to  direct  our  attention  to  the 
greatness  and  the  universality  of  it.  Whether  we  consider  the 
shortness  of  his  life,  its  utter  uncertainty,  the  unsatisfying  nature 
of  all  earthly  things  while  it  lasts,  or  its  certain,  painful,  and  most 
generally  sinful  termination  ;  whether  we  contemplate  the  physi- 
cal evils  which  embitter  it ;  the  poverty,  the  toil,  the  sicknesses, 
the  sufferings,  the  oppression,  the  famine,  pestilence  and  sword, 
and  all  the  countless  ills  to  which  flesh  is  heir  ;  whether  we  turn 
our  thoughts  to  the  moral  evils  which  defile  and  degrade  us,  poi- 
soning all  the  enjoyments  of  our  present  state,  and  rendering  us 
unfit  for  any  better  state  to  come  ;  whether  Ave  turn  our  eyes  for 
comfort  into  our  own  hearts  and  find,  them  all  polluted,  or  turn 
them  to  our  perishing  fellow-creatures  and  find  them  as  misera- 
ble as  ourselves,  or  to  God  and  feel  that  he  has  forsaken  us,  or 
to  the  grave  and  find  that  it  is  no  refuge  for  us,  or  to  eternity 
and  behold  only  darkness  and  despair :  there  is  nothing  left  for  us 
but  to  confess  the  greatness  and  the  righteousness  of  the  condem- 
nation we  have  incurred,  and  to  seek  deliverance  from  it,  through 
deliverance  from  the  sin  that  produced  it. 

15.  Still,  however,  we  must  be  careful  to  estimate  truly  the 
other  side  of  the  case  presented  for  our  consideration.  Compared 
even  with  our  own  conception  of  what  is  perfect  in  spirituality, 
in  intelligence,  and  in  physical  existence,  we  must  indeed  pro- 
nounce our  present  condition  to  be  at  once  depraved  and  misera- 
ble. Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  compared  with  the  condition  of  the 
brutes  that  perish,  with  that  of  idiots  or  maniacs,  above  all  with 
that  of  lost  spirits  or  devils,  our  condition  is  one  of  great  eminence 
— crowned  with  a  dominion  at  once  just  and  illimitable  over  the 
creatures  of  God,  and  endowed  with  ability  to  use  that  dominion, 
in  innumerable  ways,  for  the  great  glory  of  God,  and  the  bound- 
less good  of  his  creatures. 

16.  Man  is  not  always  suffering,  nor  is  suffering  itself  an  un- 
mixed evil :  nay,  it  is  the  parent  of  many  blessings.  Man  is  not 
always  deceived  in  determining  what  is  true  :  nay,  the  conquests 
of  his  intelligence  may  be  inconceivably  vast.  Man  is  not  always 
misled  in  seeking  for  what  is  good  :  nay,  he  may  know  and  do 
enough  to  make  his  pathway  through  life  seem  like  one  of  beauty 
and  light.  The  accountability  which  he  feels,  however  it  may  be 
perverted,  is  the  most  enduring  restraint  to  the  evil  within  him  ; 


10  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

the  dependence  he  admits  is  the  constant  testimony  of  his  nature 
to  the  being  and  goodness  of  his  Creator ;  the  sense  of  blame- 
worthiness which  his  conscience  courageously  stirs  up  in  his  soul, 
is  the  foundation  of  all  his  struggles  to  release  himself  from  the 
dominion  of  sin  and  advance  in  the  path  of  virtue.  His  very 
individualism,  however  it  may  be  perverted  into  utter  selfish- 
ness and  cruelty,  yet  powerfully  separates  him  to  God,  and  to  his 
own  self-dominion,  in  the  midst  of  the  multitudes  around  him 
who  encourage  each  other  to  forget  God,  and  hurry  each  other  on 
to  perdition :  and  the  powerful  bias  of  his  nature — not  indeed  to 
true  religion — but  to  religious  ideas  and  emotions  in  general, 
greatly  as  it  may  be  abused  and  corrupted,  opens  in  the  very 
depths  of  his  being,  an  access  for  the  truth  that  may  save  him. 

17.  Such  is  man  as  he  actually  exists  before  us.  Such  are 
we  all.  Differing,  no  doubt,  widely  from  each  other,  as  one  or 
other  true  or  good,  false  or  evil  thing,  may  disturb  the  ordinary 
balance  of  human  nature  ;  but  all  alike  in  the  grand  character- 
istics of  our  being,  and  considered  in  the  simplest  light  as  indi- 
vidual persons.  This  is  the  being  concerning  whom  it  is  alto- 
gether indispensable  that  we  should  have  clear  and  just  ideas, 
if  we  would  truly  comprehend  or  rightly  interpret  that  great  sal- 
vation offered  to  him  through  the  Mediator. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   MORAL   CONDITION    OF    MAN— AS  IT   IS    SOCIALLY   EXHIBITED. 

I.  1.  The  Social  Principle  Fundamental  in  Man. — 2.  The  Household.  Domestic  Life. — 
3.  Seopo  thereof!  Duty. — 4.  Here,  if  anywhere,  Man  is  True  and  Pure. — 5.  Re- 
sult here. — 6.  Desperate  Manifestation  of  our  Fallen  Estate.  II.  1.  Civil  Society 
a  Necessity  of  Nature  and  an  Ordination  of  God. — 2.  The  End  of  this  Organiza- 
tion of  the  Social  Principle.  Its  Capabilities. — 3.  Its  Intimate  Nature.  Its  Ha- 
bitual Perversion  by  Man. — 4.  The  Vast  and  Habitual  Wickedness  of  States,  as 
such. — 5.  The  Civil  Career  of  Man  as  Complete  a  Proof  of  his  Depravity,  as  his 
Personal  and  his  Domestic  Career.  III.  1.  Man's  Temporal  Capacities  are  ex- 
hausted, when  considered  as  an  Individual,  as  a  Member  of  the  Household,  and 
a  Member  of  the  State. — 2.  Moral  Capabilities  beyond  those  Three  Conditions. — 
3.  Religious  Ideas. — 4.  Their  Relations  to  the  Social  Principle  in  Man. — 5.  The 
Permanence,  Force,  Blindness,  and  Depravity,  of  the  Religious  Instincts  of 
Man. — 6.  Frightful  Demonstration  of  his  Depravity. — 7.  Ruin  of  Man's  Estate, 
Socially  and  Religiously  as,  before  personally,  ascertained. 

I. — 1.  The  social  principle  in  man  is  as  powerful  as  liis  individ- 
ualism, and  operates  as  steadily.  To  the  former  of  these  two 
principles  we  must  look  as  the  foundation  of  all  that  distinguishes 
man,  considered  personally  :  to  the  latter  as  the  basis  of  our  at- 
tempts to  explain  all  that  distinguishes  him,  when  he  acts  in  con- 
cert with  others.  It  is  the  play  of  these  two  principles  upon  each 
other — the  preponderance  of  the  one  or  the  other — or  the  just 
balance  of  both  of  them,  that  gives  its  fundamental  character  to 
every  form  of  association  that  exists  amongst  men.  Whatever 
tends  to  the  highest  personal  development  of  man,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  the  highest  purity  and  efficiency  of  his  associated 
action,  may  be  said  to  combine  in  perfection,  these  two  grand 
principles  of  his  nature.  Supposing  man  to  possess  even  a  pro- 
found instinct,  much  more  a  clear  perception  of  the  great  neces- 
sities of  his  being,  and  of  the  general  method  of  attaining  them, 
no  more  convincing  proof  need  be  sought  of  the  perversion  of  his 
nature,  than  the  deplorable  fact  that  after  nearly  sixty  centuries 
of  what  he  calls  progress,  he  is  still  unable  to  obtain  general 


12  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

security  and  freedom,  much  less  exalted  development  and  civ- 
ilization. 

2.  The  simplest  form  in  which  human  association  occurs,  the 
one  Avhich  is  most  intimate  of  all,  and  elemental  to  all  others, 
is  that  of  the  household.  The  relations  of  husband  and  wife,  of 
parent  and  child,  of  children  of  the  same  parents  to  each  other, 
of  masters  and  those  who  are  held  to  service  in  any  way,  of 
guardian  and  ward,  and  very  largely  of  personal  friends  to  each 
other,  together  with  those  frequent  though  they  may  be  con- 
sidered casual  relations,  which  charity  and  hospitality,  and  the 
thousand  impulses  of  our  nature,  establish  amongst  private  per- 
sons, constitute  that  vast  portion  of  the  business  of  our  earthly 
existence  which  we  call  our  domestic  life. 

3.  Our  sense  of  duty,  which  is  the  noblest  of  all  the  natural 
impulses  of  man,  and  capable  of  bearing  the  richest  fruits,  is  the 
conscientious  recognition  of  the  obligation  we  lie  under  to  be 
faithful  to  every  being,  and  every  relation  we  sustain.  Many 
duties  have  a  perfect  obligation,  that  is,  they  are  of  that  nature 
that  they  can  be  precisely  measured,  and  precisely  enforced : 
such  as  the  duty  of  universal  truth,  honesty,  and  the  like.  But 
many  others  are  duties  of  imperfect  obligation,  that  is,  they  are 
of  that  nature,  that  no  rules  that  man  can  lay  down,  or  enforce 
by  any  outward  means,  can  either  exactly  determine  them,  or 
adequately  enforce  them  :  such  as  the  duty  of  obedience  to 
parents,  gratitude  to  friends,  humanity  to  inferiors,  and  the  like. 
It  is  precisely  in  the  wide  range  of  our  domestic  life,  that  the 
amplest  scope  is  offered  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  these  duties 
of  imperfect  obligation  :  and  it  is  precisely  the  considerations 
which  spring  from  the  bosom  of  that  life,  that  ought  to  impel  us 
to  the  exact  discharge  of  these  duties. 

4.  If  the  mind  of  man  can  be  trusted  at  all,  with  the  deter- 
mination of  what  truth  requires  of  him,  it  would  seem  as  if  he 
might  be  thus  confided  in,  in  what  relates  to  his  own  family.  If 
the  heart  of  man  may  ever  be  relied  on  to  pursue  what  is  good, 
we  can  hardly  doubt  that  his  own  wife  and  his  own  offspring 
are  the  proper  objects  of  such  a  confidence.  If  the  dictates  of 
humanity  are  ever  listened  to  by  him,  or  the  calls  of  piety  ever 
reach  him,  or  the  ties  of  gratitude  ever  bind  him,  or  the  yearn- 
ings of  affection  ever  prompt  him  to  labor  or  to  suffer,  or  any 
generous  or  disinterested  emotion  ever  conquers  him  into  self- 


CHAP.  II.]  MAN    SOCIALLY    CONSIDERED.  13 

denial ;  surely  his  own  hearthstone  is  the  spot,  and  they  who 
constantly  surround  it  are  the  ohjects,  toward  which  he  will 
turn  in  these  habitual  manifestations  that  the  life  of  God  is  not 
wholly  dead  within  him.  For  this  is  the  very  field  in  which  God 
has  set  before  him  the  surest  and  the  highest  earthly  recompense 
for  well-doing ;  and  these  are  the  very  beings,  of  all  that  the 
world  holds,  whom  he  can  the  most  surely  bless,  and  whom  he 
must  the  most  truly  love. 

5.  Do  we  find  that  ordinarily  things  work  after  this  fashion  ? 
In  a  few  Christian  households  perhaps,  yes,  to  a  certain  extent. 
With  a  few  pure  and  generous  spirits,  speaking  after  the  manner 
of  man,  perhaps,  yes,  again.  With  multitudes,  to  a  partial  ex- 
tent, and  in  a  certain  sense,  perhaps,  yes,  again.  But  over  the 
wide  earth,  and  through  the  long  ages,  surely,  no.  Every  one 
of  these  relations  has  the  seal  of  nature's  most  enduring  laws  ; 
but  nature  is  incapable  of  enforcing  her  owm  laws,  and  can  only 
seek  a  compensation  in  the  fearful  punishment  of  their  breach. 
Every  one  of  them  has  the  express  recognition  of  God,  both  in 
the  order  of  his  providence,  and  the  word  of  his  grace  :  but  God 
does  not  miraculously  interpose  to  oblige  man  to  respect  his  or- 
dinations, and  therefore  fallen  man  does  not  respect  them,  even 
when  his  own  immediate  happiness  is  at  stake. 

G.  If  what  might  be  called  the  private  history  of  mankind 
were  written,  perhaps  the  very  darkest  page  of  it  would  be  that 
which  recorded  the  domestic  crimes  and  miseries  of  the  race.  Con- 
nubial unfaithfulness  and  unkindness,  paternal  and  maternal 
cruelty  and  neglect,  natural  affection  of  near  kindred  turned  into 
indifference  or  hate,  friendships  violated  and  trusts  broken,  hu- 
manity transformed  into  cruel  injustice,  and  gratitude  and  rever- 
ence, and  pity  and  love,  with  all  fear  of  the  true  God  utterly  ban- 
ished from  the  habitations  of  countless  millions  of  his  sinning  and 
suffering  creatures.  Alas  !  it  is  not  in  the  domestic,  any  more 
than  in  the  individual  life  of  man,  that  we  can  find  any  evidence 
that  he  is  not  depraved.  All  ties  are  not,  indeed,  broken  by  all, 
even  in  a  state  of  nature.  But  all  ties  are  not  only  broken,  but 
despised,  by  innumerable  multitudes.  And  such  as  observe  them 
all  with  simplicity  and  completeness,  if  such  can  be  found,  will 
be  the  first  to  profess  that  they  have  not  accomplished  this  in 
their  own  strength. 

II. — 1.  It  is  only  in  the  reveries  of  philosophers  that  we  find 


14  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

theories  to  account  for  the  origin  of  human  society,  upon  the 
notion  of  its  being  merely  a  spontaneous  compact  amongst  men. 
The  social  state  is  an  ordination  of  God  :  the  civil  power  is  in- 
stituted by  him  :  the  commonwealth  is  as  really  divine  in  its 
origin  and  sanction  as  the  church  itself :  and  they  who  bear  rule 
in  the  former,  are  no  less  called  thereto  of  God,  and  no  less  re- 
sponsible to  him  for  the  manner  in  which  they  discharge  their 
trust,  than  they  who  bear  rule  in  the  latter.  The  end  of  the 
commonwealth  is  no  doubt  peculiar  to  itself,  and  the  means  also 
are  peculiar  ;  but  the  one  and  the  other  are  appointed  of  God. 
The  gathering  together  in  a  dominion  of  that  sort,  is  a  universal 
impulse  of  our  nature,  implanted  by  him  from  whom  that  nature 
was  derived,  and  responsive  to  the  divine  ordination  that  such 
dominion  should  exist.  So  -that  if  man  can  plead  any  thing  with 
certainty,  it  is  that  in  his  efforts  to  perfect  his  condition  by  means 
of  human  society,  he  is  sustained  by  the  will  of  God,  by  the  law 
of  nature,  and  by  his  highest  impulses  and  necessities.  In  such 
an  attempt,  so  warranted,  we  might  reasonably  expect  complete 
success.     But  we  find  nothing  of  the  sort. 

2.  The  restraint  and  punishment  of  the  wicked,  and  the  pro- 
tection of  the  innocent  and  the  upright  from  that  rapacity  and 
cruelty  which  wickedness  begets,  are  amongst  the  chief  reasons 
assigned  by  the  Almighty  for  the  institution  of  all  civil  authori- 
ties amongst  men.1  There  is  a  certain  sense,  therefore,  in  which 
the  very  existence  of  human  society  carries  with  it  a  divine  and 
perpetual  proof  of  the  depravity  of  mankind,  and  in  which  the 
perpetual  continuance  of  the  power,  under  the  sovereign  provi- 
dence of  God,  is  a  perpetual  demonstration  of  the  continued 
wickedness  of  man.  The  very  advantages  which  society  confers 
are  capable  of  being  made  the  means  of  extending  the  dominion 
of  evil ;  and  the  augmented  and  concentrated  forces  thus  accu- 
mulated and  directed  to  the  dishonor  of  God  and  the  ruin  of 
every  true  interest  of  man,  have  found  no  remedy  adequate  to 
their  restraint,  but  in  those  seditions,  revolutions,  convulsions  and 
conquests,  with  which  the  annals  of  every  people  are  crowded. 
Still  while  every  form  of  civil  administration  is,  from  its  very 
nature,  liable  to  be  made  the  instrument  of  cruelty  and  pollution, 
and  all  have  been  so  used  ;  yet  every  form  into  which  the  civil 
power  can  be  cast,  is  also  from  its  nature,  compatible  with  per- 

1  Romans,  xiii.  1-7. 


CHAP.  II.]  MAN    SOCIALLY    CONSIDERED.  15 

sonal  purity  in  man.  In  every  one  there  is  a  perpetual  struggle 
between  the  principle  of  individualism  and  the  principle  of 
socialism.  In  every  one  the  grand  problem  which  has  continu- 
ally and  vainly  solicited  a  solution,  is  the  perfect  preservation 
of  individual  rights ;  and  at  the  same  time  that  civilization 
and  the  public  force  should  be  advanced  to  the  highest  pitch. 
No  doubt  the  freest  institutions  have  done  the  most  toward  the 
accomplishment  of  these  great  ends  ;  yet  even  they  are  com- 
patible with  the  general  reign  of  Atheism,  idolatry,  and  super- 
stition. Even  that  wTild  hope  of  universal  freedom  and  equality, 
to  be  realized,  at  last,  in  a  political  millennium  for  all  lands 
and  races,  which  has  sunk  so  deeply  into  the  heart  of  man,  and 
which  burns  so  fiercely  in  these  latter  ages,  is  not  incompatible 
with  the  highest  offences  against  God,  and  the  blackest  crimes 
against  his  creatures. 

3.  "When  the  public  will,  the  public  intelligence,  and  the  pub- 
lic force  are  put  in  operation,  no  matter  how,  and  no  matter 
under  what  forms,  that  which  necessarily  results,  and  besides 
which  nothing  can  result  is,  that  certain  rules  Acquire  force,  to 
which  wre  give  the  name  of  law — these  rules  are  expounded  and 
administered,  and  then  they  are  executed  and  enforced.  These 
are  the  inevitable  results  of  the  independent  action  of  every  body 
politic  ;  and  there  is  no  action  of  any  body  politic,  no  matter 
whether  its  form  be  despotic,  or  limited,  or  free,  which  can  result 
in  anything  not  capable  of  being  classed  as  a  legislative,  judicial, 
or  executive  act.  Now  -what  is  to  be  noted  is,  that  all  these 
things,  in  all  their  infinite  variety,  may  be  done,  and  have  been 
done  through  all  ages,  in  absolute  forgetfulness  or  in  utter  con- 
tempt of  God,  the  great  lawgiver,  ruler,  and  judge  of  men. 
Society  in  every  form  exhausts  itself  to  set  up  that  which  it 
thinks  not  of  God  as  it  sets  it  up,  and  which  for  aught  it  knows 
or  cares,  may  be  the  most  opposite  from  him,  and  most  offensive 
to  him  :  nay,  does  it  many  a  time,  most  sinfully  and  foolishly, 
under  pretence  of  serving  him  by  means  which  he  abhors.  How 
often  is  nature  herself  set  at  naught,  the  clearest  lessons  she 
teaches  utterly  despised,  the  most  precious  rights  she  bestows 
trampled  under  foot  ?  How  often  are  all  the  individual  and  all 
the  domestic  rights  of  man  ruthlessly  disregarded  ?  How  con- 
stantly does  organized  power  do,  what  none  but  the  most  aban- 
doned individual  would  do  ?     Nor  is  it  to  those  despotic  rulers 


16  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

who  have  been  monsters  of  iniquity,  that  allusion  is  had,  nor  yet 
to  the  fierce  and  unusual  proceedings  of  well-ordered  common- 
wealths in  times  of  peril.  It  is  the  general  current  of  human 
affairs  as  administered  by  the  ordinary  authorities  amongst  men, 
in  all  ages  and  all  lands,  which  obliges  us  to  see  that  habitu- 
ally, man  as  clearly  shows  in  the  conduct  of  the  state,  as  in  the 
bosom  of  his  family,  that  he  is  by  nature  an  alien  from  the  com- 
monwealth of  Israel,  and  without  God  in  the  world. 

4.  If  we  pass  from  this  narrow  view  of  society  considered  in 
its  own  organism  and  its  internal  action,  and  contemplate  in  a 
broader  light  the  action  of  states  upon  each  other,  the  principles 
which  regulate  that  action,  and  the  results  to  which  it  is  designed 
to  lead,  how  immense  is  the  evidence  which  all  history  has  accu- 
mulated, that  the  public  conduct  of  nation  with  nation,  siuce 
the  world  began,  has  been  immeasurably  more  such  conduct  as 
became  robbers  and  savages,  than  such  conduct  as  became  wise 
and  just  men !  The  public  records  of  the  past,  are  for  the  most 
part  records  of  suffering  and  crime  :  suffering  inflicted  in  a  career 
of  victorious  wickedness — crime  perpetrated  against  the  weak 
and  the  conquered.  Nor  have  the  arts  of  peace  which  states 
have  habitually  practised  against  each  other,  been  less  foreign 
from  the  spirit  of  doing  unto  others  as  we  would  that  they  should 
do  unto  us,  than  the  cruelties  of  war  have  been  foreign  from 
the  spirit  in  which  men  love  their  neighbors  as  themselves.  Nor 
does  it  weaken  the  force  of  such  enormous  proofs  of  the  true 
nature  of  man,  to  extenuate  the  general  conduct  of  the  race 
nationally  considered,  by  showing  that  love  of  country,  love  of 
glory,  love  of  power,  love  of  liberty,  or  any  other  lofty  or  heroic 
impulse  which  men  are  accustomed  to  applaud,  actuated  and 
misled  them.  The  terrible  fact  that  they  were  misled  still  re- 
mains. Their  violation  of  all  obligations,  human  and  divine, 
that  conflicted  with  their  interests  or  their  passions  :  the  wide 
tendency  of  the  wickedness  of  states  to  obstruct  the  march  of 
civilization  and  to  retard  the  progress  of  the  human  race  :  the 
general  influence  of  their  conduct  in  diminishing  the  aggregate 
happiness  and  virtue  of  mankind  :  none  of  these  things  can  be 
excused  at  that  bar  where  suffering  humanity  impeaches  its 
rulers  as  cruel  and  incompetent — and  wdiere  reason  and  religion 
impeach  humanity  itself,  and  its  rulers  altogether,  as  sinners,  in 
all  these  things,  exceedingly  before  God. 


CHAP.  II.]  MAN    SOCIALLY    CONSIDERED.  17 

5.  "We  cannot  pass  over  this  portion  of  the  subject  in  the 
most  cursory  manner,  without  being  shocked  Avith  the  evidence 
it  affords  of  the  deplorable  wickedness  of  our  race.  Even  the 
virtues  which  are  begotten  by  the  movement  of  society  across  the 
track  of  ages,  and  which  could  have  no  existence  but  from  the 
existence  of  government,  and  country,  and  society  in  its  organ- 
ized form,  derive  a  part  of  their  lustre  from  the  terrible  shadows 
which  give  them  prominence.  And  while  they  prove — what  so 
many  other  proofs  confirm,  that  the  entire  image  of  God  is  not  so 
totally  effaced  in  man,  that  he  is  lost  past  redemption,  they  do  not 
shake  in  the  least,  the  still  more  abounding  proofs  that  no  more 
of  that  image  is  left  in  man,  than  may  suffice  to  prove  that  he 
once  had  it  in  perfection,  and  that  it  is  yet  possible  he  may  be 
restored  to  it.  Morally  considered,  his  civil  career  is  not  less  a 
failure  and  a  wreck,  than  his  domestic  and  his  individual  career 
has  been  already  shown  to  be  :  a  failure  and  a  wreck,  occurring 
with  more  uniformity,  and  liable  to  fewer  and  feebler  exceptions 
in  this,  than  in  either  of  the  preceding  relations  in  which  he  has 
been  contempated.  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  must  be  con- 
verted into  a  kingdom  for  the  Lord  and  his  Christ,  before  the 
earth  can  be  made  a  fit  habitation  for  God. 

III. — 1.  Man's  position  as  an  individual,  as  a  member  of  the 
family,  and  as  a  citizen — that  is  his  personal,  his  social,  and  his 
civil  state,  present  to  us  a  continuous  and  connected  view  of  his 
entire  being,  capacity,  and  operation,  so  far  as  all  things  which 
relate  merely  to  this  world  and  terminate  in  it  are  concerned. 
Whatever  we  are  capable  of  doing  at  all,  of  earthly  things,  we 
can  do  either  as  individual  persons,  or  as  members  of  the  family, 
or  of  the  state.  Every  capacity  of  man,  temporally  considered, 
is  exhausted  in  these  three  methods  of  development  and  effort ; 
and  we  may  be  perfectly  certain  that  whatever  he  has  not  done 
or  exhibited,  in  one  or  other  of  them,  he  has  not  done  or  exhib- 
ited at  all.  So  that  when  we  have  a  just  view  of  his  nature  as 
thus  presented,  we  have  a  complete  view  of  his  nature  as  it  ac- 
tually is.  God,  who  does  all  things  with  absolute  perfection,  has 
thus  ordered  and  disposed  the  life  of  man  on  earth  in  such  a 
manner,  that  it  must  necessarily  develop  itself  by  means  the 
most  simple,  and  yet  the  most  powerful  and  comprehensive,  af- 
fording the  completest  scope  for  the  exercise  of  all  that  is  good 
and  true,  and  presenting  the  utmost  restraints  to  all  that  is  false 

2 


IS  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

and  evil,  which  are  compatible  with  a  condition  of  moral  freedom, 
and  if  I  may  now  add  it,  of  moral  probation. 

2.  But  there  are  interests  of  man  which  do  not  end  with 
time,  and  which  no  blindness  and  pollution  seem  capable  of 
making  him  wholly  lose  sight  of:  interests,  which  though  he 
may  be  unable  clearly  to  explain,  much  less  adequately  to  secure, 
no  one  else  is  able  to  explain  away,  and  he  himself  is  incapable 
of  becoming  wholly  indifferent  to.  He  is  religious — using  that 
word  in  its  wide  sense — by  nature,  as  really  as  he  is  rational  by 
nature  ;  and  of  the  two,  the  former  is  the  more  urgent  part  of 
his  being. 

3.  It  is  easy  to  conceive,  and  it  is  practically  exhibited  by 
disciples  of  every  religious  creed,  that  man  may  hold  religious 
opinions  which  do  not  affect  his  temporal  conduct,  at  all :  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  he  may  adopt  and  hold  very  tenaciously 
to  religious  impressions,  and  even  connect  them  very  strictly  with 
religious  rites,  without  having  any  clear  or  even  settled  intelligence 
on  the  subject.  The  whole  subject  is  capable  of  being  kept  apart, 
as  it  were,  from  the  life  of  man,  both  inward  and  outward — even 
in  the  most  strictly  individual  manifestations  of  that  life,  and  yet 
of  being  preserved,  at  the  same  time,  by  him,  very  carefully  as  a 
fundamental  portion  of  his  being.  And  all  this  is  capable  of 
being  done,  and  is  done  continually,  without  any  serious  regard 
to  the  truth  or  falsity,  the  goodness  or  badness  of  the  religion 
thus  cherished. 

4.  If  we  add  to  this,  the  power  of  that  social  principle  which 
binds  men  together  in  families,  and  in  its  wider  operation  unites 
them  in  communities,  and  bring  it  to  bear  in  the  religious  organ- 
ization of  the  human  race,  we  have  presented  to  us  in  its  simplest 
form  the  religious  element  in  man,  assuming  an  outward,  perma- 
nent, public  form.  There  is  no  absolute  necessity,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  why  this  public  and  social  form  of  religion — whatever 
the  religion  may  be — should  or  should  not  be  engrafted  on  the 
household  estate  of  man.  It  might  be,  or  might  not  be — so  far  as 
the  inherent  nature  of  the  case  would  determine  :  it  has  been,  and 
it  has  not  been,  so  far  as  human  practice  is  concerned.  In  like 
manner,  the  religious  organization  and  the  civil  power  have  no 
necessary  connection  or  disconnection  with  each  other  :  they  may 
be  wholly  disconnected,  and  even  mutually  inimical :  or  they  may 


chap.il]         man  socially   considered.  19 

be  closely  connected,  and  yet  mutually  independent :  or  they  may 
mutually  influence  each  other — or  one  of  them  may  be  absolutely 
subjected  to  the  other.  All  these  results  are  possible — all  of  them 
have  occurred  :  and  they  all  conspire  to  prove  that  the  religious 
element  in  man  is  fundamentally  distinct  from  that  which  de- 
velops itself  in  the  household  and  the  state,  and  that  although 
it  is  capable  of  a  very  close  union  with  it,  and  is  liable  to  many 
of  the  conditions  which  control  it,  nevertheless  it  is  a  distinct 
element  of  itself,  and  must  vindicate  for  itself,  a  distinct  exist- 
ence whenever  it  assumes  a  public  or  permanent  form.  It  is,  in 
all  its  manifestations,  essentially  an  organization  not  of  visible, 
and  therefore  temporal  interests,  but  of  invisible,  and  therefore 
eternal  interests  :  and  the  question  is  purely  incidental,  though 
of  transcendant  importance,  how  far  it  will  accept  the  con- 
trol, the  union,  or  the  subjection  of  other  recognized  interests 
of  man. 

5.  It  is  worthy  to  be  noted,  as  a  remarkable  evidence  of  the 
tenacity  with  which  men  cleave  to  religious  prepossessions,  and 
the  immense  importance  they  attach  to  religious  organizations, 
that  churches — using  the  word  in  its  wide  sense — have  been  far 
more  enduring  than  states  :  religions  more  powerful  and  con- 
stant, in  their  domination,  than  races  of  men.  It  is  worthy  on 
the  other  hand,  to  be  observed,  as  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  nat- 
ural power  of  the  human  conscience,  when  roused  to  the  contem- 
plation of  spiritual  truth,  that  all  great  thinkers  have  always  been 
infidels,  as  touching  the  popular  religion  of  their  country,  when 
that  religion  was  false  :  that  no  false  religion,  when  once  actually 
subverted  and  destroyed,  has  ever  been  able  to  regain,  in  another 
age,  or  land,  or  race,  its  lost  sway.  It  is  impossible,  in  this  place, 
to  attempt  even  the  most  cursory  survey  of  the  various  systems 
of  religion  which  have  prevailed  amongst  men.  In  general,  be- 
sides the  Jewish  and  the  Christian,  there  is  a  form  of  Theism, 
more  or  less  pure,  of  which  Mohammedanism  has  been  the  most 
remarkable  example  ;  a  form  of  Theism,  exhibited  in  idolatrous 
worship  of  certain  representatives  of  the  true  God,  of  which  the 
ancient  Persians  had  the  most  striking  example  ;  Polytheism, 
more  or  less  pure  ;  Polytheism,  blended  with  direct  idolatry ; 
Idolatry  sitnpdy  expressed  ;  the  worship  of  living  creatures  ; 
Devil  worship  ;  the  worship  of  dead  men  ;  the  worship  of  the  uni- 


20  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

verse  itself;  the  worship  of  the  evil  passions  of  men  idealized 
into  gods — not  to  mention  the  nameless  forms  of  folly  and  sin 
which  have  been  superinduced  upon  the  true  religion  of  God,  in 
the  manifold  corruptions  of  it.  When  we  contemplate  this  fright- 
ful array,  merely  as  a  manifestation  of  the  blindness,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  amazing  power,  on  the  other,  of  man's  religious 
instincts,  it  must  be  considered  altogether  the  most  astonishing 
view  that  can  be  taken  of  the  nature  of  our  depraved  race.  Per- 
haps it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  men  have  perpetrated  no 
crime — committed  no  excess — exhibited  no  pollution — shown  no 
cruelty — indulged  in  no  brutal  folly — of  which  the  religions  which 
they  have  set  up,  as  the  means  of  enabling  them  to  live  in  ac- 
ceptable intercourse  with  their  gods  in  this  world,  and  thus  of 
bringing  them  to  the  eternal  enjoyment  of  those  gods,  have  not 
afforded  at  once  the  example  and  the  vindication.  • 

6.  Considered  as  indications  of  the  moral  condition  of  man- 
kind, the  religious  systems  which  have  challenged  the  belief,  and 
sustained  the  hopes  of  the  overwhelming  mass  of  our  race,  from 
the  remotest  ages  to  the  present  moment,  and  those  still  pro- 
fessed by  the  vast  majority  of  living  men,  can  be  viewed  only 
with  dismay  and  horror.  The  wonder  is,  that  nature  herself,  even 
in  her  most  degraded  form,  did  not  utterly  revolt  at  the  audacious 
insults  they  offered  to  God  under  the  pretence  of  adoring  him, 
and  the  infinite  atrocities  they  committed  on  each  other,  and  the 
inexpressible  self-degradation  they  inflicted  on  themselves,  under 
the  pretence  of  perfecting  their  own  being.  It  is  idle  merely  to 
say  that  the  whole  case  reveals  the  most  incontestable  evidences 
of  the  blindness,  the  depravity,  and  the  degradation  of  man.  It 
does  far  more.  It  demonstrates,  in  the  very  matter  in  which  it 
was  most  necessary  and  most  certain  that  he  would  appear  to 
the  highest  advantage,  namely,  in  his  express  and  direct  rela- 
tions with  God,  that  the  extent  of  his  spiritual  ignorance  and 
pollution  is  incapable  of  belief,  if  he  had  not  confessed  it  all  him- 
self, and  that  nothing  short  of  the  monuments  he  has  himself 
set  up  could  have  adequately  illustrated  the  depth  of  such  con- 
summate and  abounding  iniquity. 

7.  And  such,  we  mournfully  repeat,  is  man  ;  man  as  he  pre- 
sents himself  to  our  view,  in  all  the  affecting  and  ennobling  re- 
lations of  his  domestic,  his  civil,  and  his  religious  life.      This  is 


CHAP.   II.]        MAN     SOCIALLY     CONSIDERED.  21 

what  mother,  and  wife,  and  child,  and  friend,  have  found  and  left 
him  ;  and  this  is  their  recompense  and  his.  This  is  what  the 
state  finds,  and  makes,  and  leaves  him.  This  is  what  he  declares 
concerning  himself  to  God — in  the  most  formal  and  permanent 
of  all  testimony.  This  is  what  he  has  been  from  the  moment  he 
forsook  God  ;  and  this — it  is  capable  of  the  clearest  demonstra- 
tion— is  what  he  must  continue  to  be  while  he  exists  on  earth, 
unless  God  himself  shall  extricate  him  from  an  estate  at  once  so 
depraved  and  so  miserable. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   RUIN   OF    THE    HUMAN   RACE   UNIVERSAL   AND   IRREMEPJA- 
BLE— THE   CAUSE   AND   THE   MODE   OF  ITS   OCCURRENCE. 

I.  1.  The  Ruin  of  our  Race;  and  the  Proof  of  that  Ruin,  Universal. — 2.  Unity  of  the 
Human  Race.  Summary  of  the  Proof. — (a.)  We  must  Accept  the  Cosmogony  of 
Moses,  or  Deny  the  Inspiration  of  the  entire  Scriptures. — (b.)  God's  entire  Deal- 
ings with  the  Race,  and  the  Absolute  Nature  and  Career  of  the  Race,  prove  its 
Oneness. — (c.)  Such  also,  is  the  Universal  Testimony  of  the  Race  itself,  and  of  its 
entire  History. — (d)  Scientifically,  as  well  as  Historically  and  Divinely  Certain. — 
(e.)  Connected  Utterance  of  Thought  in  Speech.  Gift  of  Tongues. — (f.)  The  Tes- 
timony of  Philosophy. — (g.)  If  the  Case  had  been  otherwise,  the  Certainty  of  it 
would  necessarily  have  been  Absolute. — 3.  Difference  between  Fallen  Angels 
and  Fallen  Men,  in  the  particular  herein  disclosed.  Different  Dealings  of  God 
with  the  two. — II.  1.  This  Universal  Ruin  of  Man  is  Irremediable,  of  itself,  or  by 
him. — (a.)  Not  only  no  Tendency  to  Spontaneous  Restoration,  but  a  Tendency 
to  greater  Guilt  and  Misery,  Personal,  General,  and  Perpetual. — (b.)  The  Ruin  has 
its  Root  in  Man's  Nature,  which  must  be  Changed  to  Repair  the  Ruin,  and  this 
God  only  can  do. — (c.)  The  Misery  of  Man  being  the  Product  of  Sin,  is  absolutely 
Irremediable  while  Sin  Continues. — (d.)  The  Nature  of  the  Case  exacts,  not  the 
Restoration,  but  the  Perdition  of  Man. — (e.)  There  was  no  Remedy  possible,  or 
even  conceivable,  except  the  Sacrifice  of  Christ. — (/.)  Not  only  the  Fact,  and  the 
Knowledge,  but  the  Enforcement  of  a  Divine  Remedy,  necessary. — (g.)  Man's 
Condition  of  Sin  and  Misery  Utterly  Helpless. — 2.  This  Irremediable  and  Uni- 
versal Ruin  as  Just  as  it  is  deploraable. — III.  1.  Inscrutable  Nature  of  our  Con- 
dition and  Destiny. — 2.  Revealed  Religion  Accepts,  and  Solves,  this  Fearful 
Problem. — 3.  Its  first  Explanation  of  the  Cause  and  Mode  of  this  Ruin. — 4. 
Completeness  of  it.     5.  Conclusion. 

I. — 1.  The  sinful  and  miserable  condition  of  man  in  his  natural 
state,  as  it  has  been  explained  in  the  two  preceding  chapters,  is 
not  only  that  of  the  race  in  general,  but  is  also  that  of  every  indi- 
vidual of  the  race.  Among  the  innumerable  proofs  of  this  which 
the  word  of  God  points  out,  and  which  arc  forced  upon  us  in 
the  most  convincing  manner,  as  often  as  we  allow  the  daily  oc- 
currences of  life  to  direct  our  attention  to  the  true  import  of  such 
things ;  there  is  one  continually  insisted  on,  which  is  so  sad  and 
so  impressive  that  any  single  occurrence  of  it  ought  to  be  con- 


CIIAP.    III.]       RUIN     OF     THE     HUMAN     RACE.  23 

elusive  ;  and  which  is,  besides,  so  universal  and  so  constant,  as 
to  be  always  before  the  face  of  all  mankind.  "What  is  death  ? 
And  why  docs  it  desolate  the  whole  earth,  and  every  household 
on  its  broad  surface  with  irresistible  and  pitiless  ravages  ?  It 
is  God  only  who  has  solved  this  terrible  enigma.1  Death,  he 
tells  us,  had  not,  at  first,  any  place  in  the  universe  :  it  entered 
it  afterward  :  it  entered  by  sin.  By  the  offence  of  the  first 
man,  and  that  offence  an  act  of  disobedience  to  God,  sin  entered, 
and  entering  reigned  unto  death.  In  its  own  nature,  it  alone  ot 
all  maladies  tends  always  to  destruction — never  toward  restora- 
tion ;  for  every  time  our  fallen  nature  conceives,  it  brings  forth 
sin  ;  and  in  its  progress  and  completion,  sin  always  produces 
death.2  And  the  sole  reason  why  death  has  passed  upon  all,  is 
that  all  have  sinned.  So  that  even  before  the  promulgation  of 
the  law,  even  from  Adam  to  Moses,  the  world  was  full  of  dead 
men's  bones  :  and  so  that,  even  during  that  long  period,  and 
even  admitting  that  sin  against  positive  law  cannot  be  imputed 
nor  the  effects  thereof  follow,  before  the  law  itself  exists — yet 
even  then  death  reigned  even  over  those  who,  having  committed 
no  actual  transgression,  proved  by  their  fate,  that  our  very  na- 
ture is  sinful.  It  is  in  Adam  that  all  die.3  For  God  hath  made 
of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the 
earth.4  By  nature  every  child  of  Adam  is  a  child  of  wrath.6 
Every  triumph  of  death  is  a  testimony  unto  us,  at  onee  of  our 
origin  and  our  pollution. 

2.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  point  out  briefly  some  of  the  more 
obvious  proofs  of  this  fundamental  truth  that  the  whole  family 
of  man  is  one  race,  descended  from  one  man  and  one  woman  ; 
seeing  that  all  the  dealings  of  God  with  us,  and  the  whole  cur- 
rent of  divine  revelation  proceed  upon  the  constant  assumption 
that  it  is  so,  and  his  word  abounds  with  the  most  explicit  decla- 
rations of  its  certainty,  while  the  truth  itself  has  encountered  the 
most  steadfast  opposition,  and  still  finds  some  of  the  highest 
names  amongst  living  philosophers  arrayed  against  it. 

(a)  The  Mosaic  Cosmogony  might  be  true,  and  yet  the  authen- 
ticity and  the  inspiration  of  the  record  which  contains  it,  might  not 
be  capable  of  proof ;  that  is,  the  facts  stated  may  be  true,  while 
it  may  be  also  true  that  Moses  did  not  record  them,  and  also 

1  Romans,  v.  12-21.  a  James,  i.  15.  3  1  Corinthians,  xv.  22. 

*  Acts,  xvii.  26.  6  Ephesians,  xL  3. 


24  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

true  that  the  person  who  did  record  them,  whoever  he  was,  was 
not  inspired.  But  the  reverse  is  wholly  impossible.  If  the  personal 
story  of  Moses  is  true,  and  if  he,  being  inspired  by  God,  actually 
wrote  the  books  which  pass  under  his  name,  then  it  is  impossible 
for  his  account  of  the  creation  of  the  visible  universe  to  be  false. 
But  Moses,  thus  inspired  and  thus  writing,  has  told  us  repeatedly 
and  in  the  most  precise  manner,  that  God  created  Adam,  and 
then  formed  Eve  out  of  a  part  of  his  person,  and  that  from  these 
two,  male  and  female,  all  the  families  of  man  are  descended. 
The  first  nine  chapters  of  Genesis  contain  a  clear  account  of  the 
creation  and  fall  of  man,  and  of  the  progress  and  ruin  of  the  race 
till  its  destruction  by  the  flood  and  its  re-establishment  after- 
ward in  the  family  of  Noah.  The  tenth  and  eleventh  chapters 
contain  a  precise  account  of  the  peopling  of  the  earth  by  the 
descendants  of  Noah,  and  a  detailed  statement  of  the  nations 
and  races,  embracing  the  confusion  of  human  language  in  the 
plain  of  Shinar,  and  the  dispersion  and  settlement  of  mankind, 
down  to  the  time  of  Abraham  ;  the  whole  embracing  a  period 
of  nearly  two  thousand  years.  Subsequent  portions  of  the 
divine  writings  bring  down  this  general  history  of  man  about 
twenty-two  centuries  farther,  and  terminate  it  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Koman  Empire,  when  that  empire  was  at  the  height  of  its 
glory.  Now  if  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  are  inspired  books, 
the  Cosmogony  of  Moses,  and  as  a  part  of  it  the  unity  of  the 
human  race,  is  as  certain  as  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Saviour  of 
the  world. 

(b)  The  whole  course  of  God's  dealing  with  the  family  of 
man,  and  the  whole  influence  of  those  dealings  upon  every 
portion  of  the  race  in  every  age  of  the  world,  and  every  condition 
of  civilization — incontestably  prove  that  they  are,  and  that  God 
has  always  considered  and  treated  them  as  being  one  and  the 
same  race.  Where  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  qualities 
of  any  number  of  human  beings  are  essentially  identical :  where 
the  same  providential,  and  the  same  gracious,  and  the  same  dis- 
ciplinary dealings  of  the  same  gracious  God  essentially  surround 
them  all,  and  affect  them  in  a  precisely  similar  way  :  where  the 
same  pollution  involves  them  all,  the  same  susceptibility  of 
recovery  exists  in  all,  the  same  nature  pervades  all,  the  same  law 
applies  to  all,  the  same  Saviour  is  suitable  to  all,  the  same  truth 
is  applicable  to  all :  it  seems  to  be  the  merest  absurdity,  the 


CHAP.   III.]        RUIN     OF     THE     HUMAN    RACE,  25 

merest  affectation  and  pedantry  of  science,  to  question  the  abso- 
lute identity  of  the  race,  and  to  assert  its  original  and  funda- 
mental diversity  upon  inferior  and  secondary  differences,  such  as 
are  liable  to  occur  to  every  race,  even  in  a  degree  immeasurably 
greater  than  has  been  manifested  in  the  human  race. 

(c)  Passing  from  the  divine  to  the  purely  human  aspect  of 
tie  subject,  there  are  considerations  which  seem  to  be  over- 
whelmingly conclusive.  At  the  head  of  these  we  may  place  the 
hisy>rical  argument.  Profane  history  reaches  with  certainty  only 
to  tie  era  of  the  Persians  :  we  glean  fragmentary  information 
only, of  earlier  ages,  from  Egyptian,  Assyrian,  and  Chaldean 
remaps  :  before  all,  and  parallel  with  all  after  the  dawn  of  pro- 
fane rJstory,  we  have  the  sacred  history  from  the  beginning  of 
the  wold  down  many  centuries  into  the  bosom  of  certain 
history  :and  since  the  canon  of  Scripture  was  closed,  we  have 
innumerale  records,  embracing  at  length  every  family  of  man. 
Now  it  my  be  asserted  with  the  greatest  confidence  that  in 
all  this  tn«k  0f  ages,  and  in  all  this  mass  of  knowledge,  there 
does  not  e^t  a  solitary  fact,  or  a  single  historic  monument, 
which  is  noiperfectly  compatible  with  the  unity  of  the  whole 
race  embracec  by  the  whole  narrative  :  but  that  innumerable 
facts  and  counoSS  monuments  are  scattered  thickly  throughout 
this  vast  penocrjf  nearly  six  thousand  years,  which  are  utterly 
irreconcilable  wi\  any  other  belief  than  that  the  human  race  is 
one  race.  That  •-,  is  S0)  is  the  testimony  of  the  race  itself, 
throughout  its  wlie  career  :  and  all  the  means  of  forming  an 
opinion  which  it  n*ypreserved  for  llSj  renders  it  absolutely  cer- 
tain that  its  testimofc  js  true. 

(d)  W  e  may  not  \0\\y  pass  by  three  separate  arguments, 
founded  upon  three  s\nrate  sciences,  one  of  them  essentially 
physical,  one  of  them  c^fly  logical,  and  one  of  them  pertaining 
to  the  higher  philosophy  j  allude  to  the  arguments  drawn  from 
Physiology,  Philology,  a\  Ethnology.  Touching  the  first,  it 
may  be  confidently  asserU  that  the  more  familiar  we  become 
with  the  great  truths  and  .fcs  0f  our  physical  being,  the  more 
assured  is  the  conviction  tha^e  differences  which  exist  amongst 
men  are  but  secondary,  whila^  rcsemblances  are  thorough  and 
original.  The  mode  of  produ>on?  growtrjj  decay,  and  death,  is 
precisely  the  same  in  all  men.  ae  fundamental  and  most  com- 
plicated structure   pervades   tli^fe   race  .    tne   same   yital 


26  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

organization,  the  same  vital  laws  :  the  same  healthful,  and  the 
same  morbid  manifestations  :  the  same  senses  arranged  and  used 
in  the  same  way,  and  capable  of  the  same  culture  and  abuse  :  the 
same  mental  faculties,  in  the  same  order,  and  depending  in  th« 
same  manner  upon  the  physical  organization  and  the  person;! 
culture  :  the  same  moral  nature  connected  in  the  same  mysteriois 
way  both  with  the  body  and  with  the  mind  :  the  same  passiois, 
the  same  will,  the  same  religious  instincts,  the  same  freedom,  -he 
same  intelligence,  the  same  depravity,  and  all  similarly  affeted 
by  temperament  and  the  nervous  system.  Doubtless  the  cuture 
of  ages  under  favorable  circumstances  places  one  portion  -f  the 
race,  in  many  respects  far  above  another  portion,  in  many 
physical,  as  well  as  in  many  moral  and  intellectual  rspects. 
But  while  the  immense  power  of  culture  upon  ail  racers  unde- 
niable even  to  the  extent  of  producing  changes  as  gr&t  as  are 
compatible  with  the  preservation  of  essential  unity  :  ?  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  any  culture  is  capable  of  producing  any 
diversities  of  whatever  kind,  greater  than  are  to  bffound  acci- 
dentally produced  amongst  individuals  of  the  same  vnety,  indeed 
in  the  very  same  household.  If  this  be  so,  and  wfeel  sure  it  is 
so,  the  declaration  that  two  children  having  thrsa<me  parents, 
but  differing  widely  from  each  other  in  certain  aspects,  are  not 
of  the  same  race  ;  is  not  so  great  an  absurdity  t  the  declaration 
that  two  children  of  Adam,  whose  difTerence'are  considerable, 
but  not  so  great  as  in  the  former  case,  are  umbers  of  different 
races. 

(e)  The  power  of  connected  expression  -  thought  in  speech, 
is  one  of  the  most  astonishing  gifts  whic^cd  has  bestowed  on 
man,  and  is  one  of  the  most  exalted  Di9-S  which  distinguishes 
every  member  of  the  human  family,  frJ  evei7  other  creature. 
As  soon  as  God  had  created  man  in  Y  own  image,  he  blessed 
him  and  spoke  to  him  in  articulate  uguage.1  And  afterward 
he  brought  unto  him  every  beast  of  J~  field>  and  eyery  fowl  of 
the  air,  to  see  what  he  would  call  t'm  :'  so  that  to  hear  the 
voice  of  God,  and  to  speak  in  acccance  with  the  will  of  God, 
are  the  first  recorded  acts  of  the  st  created  man.  The  whole 
earth  was  of  one  language  and  r  speech,  and  all  people  were 
one  people  from  the  Deluge  till  od  confounded  their  language 
that  they  could  not  understand  another's  speech,  at  Babel  in 

1  Gen.,  i.  21-30.  '  Gen->  «■  19.  20- 


cnAr.  in.]        ruin  of  the  human  race.  27 

Sliinar,  and  scattered  them  abroad  from  thence  upon  the  face  of 
all  the  earth.1  At  the  end  of  eighteen  centuries  there  were 
assembled  in  Jerusalem  on  the  great  day  of  Pentecost,  devout 
men  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven  ;  amongst  whom  fifteen 
languages,  wherein  they  were  born,  are  expressly  enumerated  by 
the  Apostle  ;  and  their  amazement  and  confusion  at  hearing 
Galileans  speak  them  all,  is  recorded  as  one  of  the  striking  inci- 
dents of  that  glorious  day  ;2  and  surely  amongst  all  miracles, 
that  gift  of  tongues  was  one  of  the  most  unsearchable.  Con- 
sidered in  the  light  thus  gathered  from  the  word  of  God,  there 
is  no  marvel  that  we  find  everywhere,  this  peculiar  and  unbroken 
connection  between  man  and  the  connected  utterance  of  thought 
by  speech  :  no  marvel  that  we  find  the  most  profound  relations 
between  the  forms  of  thought  and  the  forms  of  speech  :  no  mar- 
vel that  there  should  be  families  of  tongues  answering  to  families 
of  nations  :  no  marvel  that  we  should  find  in  all  tongues  the 
traces  of  one  primeval  language  :  no  marvel  that  we  should  dis- 
cover in  the  structure  of  all  human  speech,  those  everlasting 
principles  of  logic,  of  metaphysics  and  of  philosophy,  which  belong 
to  thought  itself,  and  which  are  a  part  of  the  life  of  the  soul 
which  clothes  its  thought  in  speech.  But  there  is  great  marvel 
that  such  wonderful  things  should  distinguish  every  man  that 
ever  existed,  and  should  separate  every  one  of  them  from  every 
creature  besides,  and  yet  should  be  thought  insufficient  to  estab- 
lish a  common  nature,  and  common  origin  for  the  race. 

(/)  Rising  a  step  higher  we  hear  the  testimony  of  the 
youngest,  and  one  of  the  fairest  daughters  of  philosophy.  Let 
us  separate  the  universal  race  of  man  into  the  peoples,  and  fami- 
lies, and  nations,  apparently  so  diverse  from  each  other,  and  many 
times  so  hostile  to  each  other  ;  so  widely  separated  as  they  seem 
in  their  religions,  their  manners,  their  institutions,  and  their 
laws.  Let  us  trace  them  across  the  long  track  of  ages,  following 
all  their  great  wanderings,  watching  over  their  various  develop- 
ments,  studying  their  alternate  concpaests  and  subjugations,  be- 
holding their  mixtures  and  their  separations,  their  achievements 
and  their  decay.  It  is  not  simply  individual  man,  nor  yet  the 
form  which  society  puts  on,  now  here,  now  there,  whose  history 
we  would  know  :  it  is  society  itself,  the  peoples,  the  families,  the 
actions,  thus  so  long  and  so  variously  manifested,  that  we  ques- 
Gcn.,  xL  1-0.  2  Acts,  ii.  1-13. 


28  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

tion  about  those  mysteries  of  which  history  so  long  thought  it 
beneath  her  high  province  to  take  cognizance.  And  now  what 
is  the  response  which  is  uttered  only  more  and  more  distinctly 
and  confidently,  as  more  and  more  carefully  the  life  of  all  the 
peoples,  and  families,  and  nations,  is  explored  ?  Is  it  that  they 
are  distinct  races,  having  each,  or  even  many,  a  distinct  origin, 
a  diverse  nature,  another  destiny  ?  Far  otherwise.  Nations  the 
most  remotely  situated  with  reference  to  each  other  have  been 
proved  to  be  members  of  the  very  same  family.  Peoples  now 
thoroughly  homogeneous  have  been  shown  to  be  the  product  of 
many  varieties  mingled  together.  Families  once  supposed  to 
have  little  in  common,  have  turned  out  to  be  branches  of  the 
self-same  stock.  Beneath  all  the  diversified  differences  which 
time,  and  chance,  and  culture  have  begotten,  there  is  everywhere 
manifest  the  common  nature,  the  common  endowment,  the  com- 
mon characteristics  of  man,  as  man  :  those  grand  marks  which 
distinguish  him  as  utterly  distinct  from  every  creature,  except 
that  single  man  whom  God  created  in  his  own  image,  and  the 
innumerable  race  which  has  sprung  from  his  loins. 

(g)  It  is  not  without  its  use  to  remark  how  totally  every  hy- 
pothesis which  denies  the  unity  of  the  human  race  is  destitute 
of  any  positive  or  even  rational  foundation,  and  how  completely 
the  origin  of  mankind  is  hid  in  darkness  the  very  moment  we 
depart  from  that  account  of  it  which  the  Scriptures  set  before 
us  with  perfect  distinctness,  and  which  all  the  knowledge  we 
possess  thoroughly  confirms.  This  consideration  alone  ought  to 
be  decisive.  The  existence  of  man  upon  earth  is  comparatively 
recent :  and  at  the  very  commencement  of  that  existence  his 
condition  ajtpears  to  have  been  one  of  exalted  civilization.  The 
oldest  monuments  that  have  existed  are  the  most  stupendous  and 
imperishable  :  the  earliest  records  that  exist  are  still  the  most 
venerated  and  influential  which  the  human  race  possesses.  How 
could  such  people  be  utterly  ignorant  of  their  own  origin,  when 
they  could  almost  clasp  hands  with  the  primeval  man  ?  How 
could  Noah  be  ignorant  of  Adam,  or  Abraham  of  Noah,  or 
Moses  of  Abraham,  or  the  whole  Jewish  people,  with  all  their 
prophets  and  apostles,  be  ignorant  of  Moses  ?  The  thing  is  im- 
possible ;  and  the  knowledge  thus  delivered  to  us,  is  exact,  simple, 
coherent,  and  complete.  The  moment  wo  reject  it  we  are  first  to 
suppose  that  men  did  noD  knew  what,  situated  a?  ihe^weve,  thejr 


CHAP.  III.]  RUIN     OF    THE     II  UMAX     RACE.  29 

could  hardly  avoid  knowing  ;  and  then  we  arc  to  follow  the 
guidance  of  a  crowd  of  shallow  pretenders,  and  Litter  scoffers, 
who  cannot  possibly  know  that  which  they  pretend  to  know,  in- 
terspersed here  and  there  with  a  few  fanciful  men  of  learning, 
who  substitute  the  solemn  declarations  of  God  with  conceits  un- 
worthy of  a  reasonable  man. 

3.  This  course  of  reflection,  so  far  from  being  barren,  leads  us 
to  take  notice  of  the  remarkable  difference  in  the  dealings  of  God 
with  two  classes  of  his  fallen  creatures,  namely,  fallen  men  and 
fallen  angels  :  a  difference  founded  in  some  degree  as  we  may 
venture  to  believe,  on  the  total  difference  of  the  nature  of  angels 
from  the  nature  of  men  in  the  very  particular  which  has  just  been 
discussed.  Adam  stands  to  the  whole  family  of  man  as  their 
natural  head  and  common  progenitor  :  the  oneness  of  their 
blood,  their  common  brotherhood,  and  the  unity  of  the  race  all 
depend  upon  their  common  relationship  to  him.  Herein  also  is 
laid  the  necessary  ground  for  that  relation  of  Adam  to  all  his 
posterity,  which  we  express  by  calling  it  a  federal  relation,  a 
covenanted  headship  :  a  relation  constituted  by  God  in  the  Cove- 
nant of  Works,  between  himself  on  one  side,  and  Adam  for  him- 
self, and  for  all  his  posterity  on  the  other.  Moreover  this  natural 
and  this  covenanted  headship  of  Adam,  this  mode  of  existence 
of  the  human  race,  and  this  relation  of  the  race  to  God  under 
the  Covenant  of  Works,  explicate  clearly  many  aspects  of  the  fall 
of  man,  and  the  effects  of  that  great  catastrophe  upon  all  man- 
kind descending  from  Adam  by  ordinary  generation.  Thus  too, 
if  we  may  for  a  moment  so  far  anticipate  our  subject,  the  sublime 
fact  and  the  infinitely  glorious  method  of  redemption  for  fallen 
man  ;  the  very  constitution  of  the  person,  and  the  whole  nature 
of  the  work  of  the  divine  mediator  between  God  and  man  :  all 
involve  the  great  fact  of  the  unity  of  the  human  race,  and  all 
contemplate  and  respect  the  great  principles  which  arc  illustrated 
in  the  Covenant  of  Works,  the  fall  of  man,  and  the  ruin  of  the 
human  race.  So  pregnant  are  the  fundamental  truths,  even 
those  apparently  the  most  remote,  which  enter  into  these  vast 
themes.  With  the  other  race  of  fallen  creatures,  every  thing  is 
different.  The  celestial  intelligences  are  pure  spirits,  each  one 
created,  none  descended  from  the  rest  '.l  whether  they  be  thrones, 
or  dominions,  or  powers,  or  principalities,  or  hierarchies,  or  cher- 

1  Math.,  xxii.  30. 


30  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK    I, 

ubirn,  or  seraphim,  none  are  related  to  each  other  as  man  is 
related  to  his  brother  man,  as  all  men  are  related  to  their  common 
progenitor.  Now  there  is  no  method  known  to  us,  no  method 
intimated  in  the  word  of  God,  whereby  a  fallen  creature  can  be 
restored  to  the  lost  image  and  favor  of  God,  except  only  by  the 
taking  of  the  nature  of  the  fallen  creature  into  indissoluble  union 
with  the  divine  nature,  in  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God ;  and 
then  the  outworking  by  this  divine  Mediator  of  all  that  may  be 
required  to  save  the  lost.  This  is  the  single  method  which  infi- 
nite wisdom  and  infinite  power,  directed  by  infinite  beneficence 
has  found  effectual  to  the  solution  of  that  greatest  problem 
which  involves  the  glory  of  God.1  In  the  case  of  man,  the  unity 
of  the  whole  race,  the  absolute  oneness  of  the  nature  of  all,  made 
one  incarnation,  one  sacrifice  of  the  Mediator,  effectual  and  com- 
plete.2 In  the  case  of  the  fallen  angels  a  separate  appearing, 
a  separate  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  would  seem  to  have  been 
necessary  as  often  as  a  single  fallen  angel  wholly  distinct  from 
other  fallen  angels  was  saved  by  him.  Wherefore  the  Scripture 
saith  :  "  Verily,  he  took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels,  but 
he  took  on  him  the  seed  of  Abraham."3 

II. — 1.  There  are,  no  doubt,  precious  and  fruitful  elements 
in  human  nature  defaced  and  weakened  as  it  is  ;  and  the  glo- 
rious image  of  God  in  which  it  was  originally  created,  is  still  dis- 
cernible upon  it.  It  is  not  what  it  was  at  first,  it  is  depraved  ; 
but  it  is  still  human  nature,  though  enveloped  in  ruin  which 
covers  the  whole  race  and  involves  the  entire  being.  The  thing 
we  are  now  to  consider,  is  not  how  much  our  ruined  race  can 
accomplish,  not  of  what  it  is  susceptible  by  means  of  any  further 
superhuman  influence  manifested  upon  it  :  but  directly,  whether 
or  not  it  is  capable,  of  itself,  of  extricating  itself  from  the  estate 
into  which  it  has  fallen,  and  restoring  itself  to  the  estate  in 
which  it  was  created.  If  not,  its  ruin  is  as  irremediable  as  it  is 
universal.  The  latter  has  been  proved  :  let  us  now  consider  the 
former. 

(a)  Whatever  may  be  the  cause  of  man's  condition,  it  is 
abundantly  evident  that  all  the  efforts  yet  put  forth  by  him, 
have  produced  no  spiritual  amelioration,  although  so  long  put 
forth,  and  put  forth  in  every  form  and  condition  of  which  his 
being  is  naturally  capable.     Whatever  individual  cases  of  ame- 

1  1  Cor.,  i.  24-:J0  2  neb.,  ix.  26-28.  3  Heb.,  ii.  1G. 


CHAP.  III.]  RUIN    OF     TIIE     HUMAN     RACE.  31 

lioration  might  be  supposed  to  have  occurred,  their  force  is  spent 
on  the  individual,  leaving  his  posterity  in  the  state  of  depra 
common  to  man.  There  is  a  tendency,  extremely  constant  if 
not  invariable  in  every  individual,  to  grow  worse  and  not  better 
as  he  advances  from  childhood  to  manhood,  and  then  to  old  age  ; 
a  tendency  to  be  found  in  the  life  of  society  itself,  considered  al- 
together :  so  that  the  very  notion  of  spontaneous  restoration, 
whether  in  individuals  or  in  societies,  is  inconsistent  with  the 
actual  nature  of  things. 

(b)  The  change  required  is  one  of  nature  not  of  condition  : 
all  our  meditations  have  chiefly  concerned  man's  nature,  and 
have  looked  to  his  condition  only  as  developing  that  nature. 
But  it  is  impossible  that  any  creature  can  change  its  own  nature. 
For  every  creature,  man  amongst  the  rest,  has  a  derived  exist- 
ence, which  follows  the  laws  of  its  being,  and  which  the  crea- 
ture can  no  more  change  than  he  can  create  himself.1  The  par- 
ticular change  moreover,  which  is  needed  in  man,  as  a  moral  and 
accountable  creature,  involves  not  only  a  willingness,  but  a 
strong  desire  for  a  total  revolution  in  his  own  nature  ;  which 
desire  and  willingness  are  inconceivable  and  impossible,  while 
he  is  left  to  act  freely  in  his  own  nature  :  for  that  of  itself  can- 
not so  abhefr  itself,  as  to  seek  its  own  radical  change.  But  if 
this  desire  is  implanted  in  him  from  without,  as  for  example  by 
God,  that  is  God's  gracious  remedy,  not  the  effect  of  man's  own 
spontaneous  effort  after  re-creation. 

(c)  If  there  be  such  distinctions  as  virtue  and  vice,  happiness 
and  misery,  as  it  has  been  shown  there  are,  they  must  exist  by 
virtue  of  the  law  of  nature,  or  the  law  of  God,  or  both  :  and  they 
must  so  exist  that  happiness  goes  along  with  virtue,  and  misery 
with  vice  :  for  to  suppose  the  contrary  would  be  to  put  an  end  to 
the  moral  nature  of  man,  by  abolishing  all  moral  distinctions  in 
God,  in  nature,  and  in  man.  But  it  has  been  abundantly  shown 
that  man  is  naturally  both  vicious  and  miserable,  and  moreover 
that  it  is  wholly  beyond  his  power  to  change  his  own  nature.  It 
necessarily  follows  that  the  viciousness  of  his  nature,  and  the 
misery  of  his  condition  are  wholly  irremediable  by  him. 

(d)  The  suffering  which  follows  transgression,  and  the  hap- 
piness which  attends  virtue,  are  incontestable  proofs  that  the 
affairs  of  the  universe  are  under  the  control  of  an  infinite  Kuler  ; 

1  Jeremiah,  xiiL  23. 


32  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I, 

that  the  nature  of  his  eminent  dominion  is  strictly  moral :  and 
that  he  administers  his  government  with  perfect  righteousness, 
and  infinite  exactness,  so  far  as  we  can  observe  and  understand 
it.  Under  such  a  government  as  this,  even  if  the  Scriptures  had 
not  explicitly  told  us  that  every  transgression  and  disobedience 
must  receive  its  just  recompense  of  reward/  it  would  be  wholly 
inconceivable  how  such  a  rebellious  and  daring  transgressor  as 
man,  could,  if  left  to  himself,  escape  out  of  the  hands  of  God,  or 
answer  at  his  dreadful  bar. 

(e)  Moreover,  if  we  leave  out  of  the  question,  the  remedy 
provided,  and  the  deliverance  offered  by  God  in  Christ,  it  is  be- 
yond the  power  of  our  utmost  faculties  to  conceive  how  there 
could  be  any  remedy  for  such  a  case  as  ours,  under  the  adminis- 
tration of  an  omnipotent  moral  ruler  ;  much  less  to  contrive  one 
ourselves,  and  least  of  all  to  conceive,  to  contrive,  and  then  to  ex- 
ecute it.  And  God  himself  being  judge,  there  was  no  remedy 
which  even  his  own  infinite  wisdom  could  devise,  or  his  own 
boundless  power  could  execute,  except  that  inconceivable  remedy 
in  the  blood  of  his  only-begotten  Son." 

(/)  And  again  :  even  after  this  remedy  is  plainly  and  fully 
made  known  to  man,  if  he  be  left  to  himself,  it  is  of  no  avail. 
For  his  old  man  is  not  the  subject  of  such  a  law,  as  the  change 
in  his  condition  involves,  to  wit,  the  perfect  law  of  God;  nor 
is  it  possible  to  make  that  old  man  subject  to  that  law :  for 
the  law  itself  is  foolishness  unto  him.3  So  that  not  only  a 
divine  remedy,  and  the  divine  communication  of  that  remedy  to 
him,  but  the  divine  enforcement  of  it  on  him,  are  all  indispensa- 
ble to  the  extrication  of  man  from  his  depraved  and  miserable 
estate. 

(g)  And  again  :  supposing,  for  a  moment,  that  man  was 
once  in  a  better  condition,  which  indeed  his  heart  still  whispers 
to  him  he  was  ;  and  supposing  also  that  the  Scripture  account 
of  his  fall  is  true  :  how  can  it  be  conceived  as  possible,  that  a 
being  who  when  he  was  pure  and  wise  deliberately  rejected  God, 
should  be  really  able,  or  should  sincerely  desire,  when  in  a  state 
of  pollution,  both  to  recover  the  estate  which  he  had  forfeited, 
and  then  retain  it,  after  thus  marvelously  recovering  it,  better 
than  he  retained  it  before  he  forfeited  it  ?  That  is  to  say,  wc 
are  to  admit  that  a  desperately  wicked  man  desires  and  is  ablo 

1  Heb.,  il  2.  3  Rom.,  i.  16,  32.  ■  Rom.,  viii.  6,  1 


CHAP.  111.]  RUIN    OF    TIIE    HUMAN    RACE.  33 

to  do  a  thousand-fold  more  to  recover  the  lost  favor  of  God,  than 
the  same  man  when  righteous  would  do  to  retain  the  favor  of 
God  before  he  lost  it,  when  it  is  of  the  very  nature  of  sin  to  do 
nothing,  and  of  righteousness  to  do  every  thing  that  pleases  God. 

2.  It  is  therefore  perfectly  certain  that  the  fearful  misery  of 
man's  estate  admits  of  no  remedy  whatever,  except  by  first  rem- 
edying the  sin  from  which  it  flows :  that  the  sin  itself  is  wholly 
irremediable  and  therefore  the  misery  too,  by  any  thing  that  man 
can  do  :  that  any  remedy  whatever,  when  we  come  to  look  at  the 
whole  case  fairly,  seems  to  ourselves  utterly  inconceivable  :  and 
that  if  any  remedy  really  exists,  it  must  result  from  the  direct 
interposition  of  God,  prompted  by  considerations  drawn  from 
within  himself;  an  interposition  which  man  has  no  title  to  de- 
mand, and  the  considerations  which  could  prompt  it  hid  in  the 
bosom  of  God.  We  may  well  bewail  a  condition  so  deplorable  : 
but  there  is  no  rational  ground  on  which  we  can  gainsay  it,  no 
righteous  one  on  which  we  can  complain  of  it. 

III. — 1.  The  exact  cause  of  this  universal  and  irremediable 
estate  of  man,  and  the  time  and  manner  of  the  falling  of  a  ca- 
lamity so  terrible  upon  him,  the  entrance  in  short  of  moral  and 
physical  evil  into  the  world,  and  its  dreadful  reign,  lie  beyond 
the  pale  of  philosophy,  of  natural  religion,  and  even  of  scientific 
morals,  in  their  widest  application.  To  these  all,  it  is  an  inscrur 
table  mystery  that  man  should  be  as  he  is,  full  of  paradoxes  and 
inexplicable  contradictions  :  and  the  cause  of  his  being  what  he 
is,  is  to  them  wholly  unsearchable.  That  God  is  himself  the  di- 
rect cause  of  the  sin  and  suffering  of  man  :  that  there  are  two 
first  causes,  one  good  and  one  evil :  that  it  is  of  the  nature 
of  matter  to  produce  sin  and  suffering,  and  that  matter  is 
eternal  and  creative  :  that  all  sin  and  suffering  have  a  ten- 
dency to  purify  the  immaterial  part  of  man,  and  that  his  soul  is 
passing  through  an  infinite  series  of  habitations,  rising  higher  in 
each  :  that  man  has  no  soul  at  all,  nor  any  immortality,  and  that 
all  he  calls  evil,  whether  moral  or  physical,  is  the  mere  result  of 
organization  and  accident,  and  will  soon  terminate  with  him,  in 
the  dust  :  that  there  is  no  God  at  all,  and  that  the  total  moral 
and  physical  derangement  of  the  universe,  p roves  that  there  is 
none,  and  that  all  things  are  fortuitous  :  that  every  thing  is  God, 
man  himself  being  one  of  the  possible  forms  of  the  divine  out- 
births,  one  of  the  modes  of  one  of  the  Attributes  of  God,  and 


34  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

that  our  notions  of  creation  and  providence,  of  accountability  and 
punishment,  are  themselves  the  real  cause  of  most  of  the  evils  of 
our  estate,  which  are  really  self-inflicted  :  that  these  sins  and 
evils  are  confined  to  this  life,  and  are  the  results  of  mere  imita- 
tion and  false  training,  and  will  have  no  effect  beyond  death, 
after  which  all  men  will  be  eternally  blessed  :  that  there  are  in- 
numerable gods  and  other  intelligences  above  man,  some  good, 
some  bad,  of  whom  man  is  the  victim  and  the  sport :  that  there 
is  in  all  things,  and  over  all  things,  an  inexorable  fate,  one  of 
whose  decrees  placed  us  in  the  condition  in  which  we  find  our- 
selves. Such  are  mere  examples  of  the  views  and  faith  of  some 
of  the  most  wide-spread  schools  of  philosophy,  religion,  and  mor- 
als, that  have  prevailed  in  this  ruined  world  of  ours.  Proofs  the 
most  incontestable  both  of  the  power  and  the  blindness  of  our 
religious  instincts,  and  of  the  inscrutable  nature  of  our  condition 
and  destiny. 

2.  Let  it  be  remembered,  that  upon  any  theory  of  morals,  of 
religion,  or  of  philosophy,  the  facts  themselves  are  to  be  ac- 
counted for,  or  are  to  be  left,  an  equal  b  ot  upon  them  all.  So 
that  even  if  the  religion  we  profess,  and  which  we  call  divine, 
should  have  failed  to  account  for  what  none  else  can  account  for, 
and  to  explain  what  none  else  can  explain,  so  far  as  that  diffi- 
culty went,  the  question  between  it  and  all  other  systems  would 
remain  where  it  was.  But  if  it  accepts  this  grand  problem  of 
our  nature  and  our  universe,  as  one  which  it  behooves  it  to  solve, 
as  a  religion  professing  to  be  divine,  and  to  be  given  expressly 
on  account  of  this  very  condition  of  man  :  and  does  actually, 
completely,  and  satisfactorily  solve  it :  I  do  not  see  how  its  claims 
to  a  superhuman  intelligence  founded  on  that  great  and  before 
impossible  achievement,  are  to  be  resisted.  And,  moreover,  when 
the  complete  solution  it  offers,  not  only  accords  perfectly  with  all 
we  know  of  ourselves,  and  our  past  existence,  and  present  condi- 
tion, but  throws  a  flood  of  light  backward  and  forward,  over  the 
whole  subject  of  our  primeval  and  our  eternal  relation  to  God, 
as  well  as  our  present  nature  and  estate  ;  it  seems  to  me  im- 
possible to  doubt  that  a  power  far  above  any  we  possess  has,  at 
last,  interposed. 

3.  This,  then,  briefly,  is  the  solution  offered.  It  is  admitted, 
that  originally  moral  evil,  and  physical  evil,  which  is  its  result, 
had  no  place  in  the  universe  of  God.   It  is  asserted  that  amongst 


CHAP.  III.]  RUIN    OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  35 

the  primeval  creatures  of  God,  called  angels,  some  rebelled, 
fell,  and  were  condemned  by  God.  That  God  when  he  created 
man  formed  him  in  his  own  image,  and  made  with  him  a  cove- 
nant of  eternal  life,  upon  condition  of  perfect  obedience.  That 
man,  under  the  temptation  of  Satan,  one  of  the  fallen  angels, 
broke  his  covenant  with  God,  disobeyed,  fell,  and  incurred  the 
penalty  of  that  covenant,  not  only  for  himself,  but  as  the  natural 
and  as  the  federal  and  covenanted  head  of  all  who  should  de- 
scend from  him  by  ordinary  generation.  And  that  the  actual 
state  of  man  as  a  creature  of  God,  is  fully  explained  by  the  fact 
that  he  now  lies  under  the  penalty  and  curse  of  that  violated 
covenant,  the  sweep  of  which  and  its  condemnation  are  univer- 
sal and  eternal.1 

4.  Each  one  of  these  points,  and  many  others  connected  with 
them,  require  full  elucidation  as  fundamental  parts  of  revealed 
theology.  At  present  they  are  stated  exclusively  as  containing 
the  only  explanation  ever  offered  to  man  which  is  worthy  of  the 
vast  subject  to  wrhich  it  relates,  and  which  is  in  itself  absolutely 
complete,  of  the  true  manner  and  circumstances  of  the  entrance 
of  sin  into  the  universe,  of  the  mode  in  which  man  fell  under  its 
pollution  and  penalty,  and  of  the  influence  of  the  fall  upon  his 
nature  and  destiny. 

5.  The  absolute  universality,  the  irremediable  nature,  and  the 
fearful  cause  of  the  ruin  wdiich  has  fallen  uj)on  man,  are  thus 
exhibited,  in  some  slight  degree,  before  us,  as  we  advance  our 
researches  into  a  subject  which  so  deeply  concerns  us  all. 

1  Genesis,  L,  ii.,  iii. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    DIVINE    INTERPOSITION   TO   SAVE   MAN. 

I.  1.  The  Interposition  of  God  Sovereign,  Gracious  and  Effectual,  through  the  "Word 
made  Flesh. — 2.  Natural  Grounds  of  Ilope. — 3.  Insufficiency  of  Human  Specula- 
tion.— 4.  Divine  Revelation.  The  Son  of  God.  The  Holy  Spirit— II.  1.  The 
Method  and  Principle  of  God's  Interposition. — 2.  It  is,  and  must  be,  essentially 
Gracious. — 3.  The  Possible  Results  considered.  The  Actual  Result  proved. — 
III.  1.  The  Motive  and  Manner  of  the  Divine  Interposition,  alike  Supernatural. — 
2.  The  Fact  and  Mode  of  that  Interposition  dependent  on  the  Nature  of  the 
Being  and  Perfections  of  God.  The  Infinite  Beneficence  of  an  Infinite  Spirit,  pos- 
sessing in  Himself  the  Source  of  all  Truth,  all  Goodness,  and  all  Power,  the  Root 
of  our  Salvation. — 3.  The  Infinite  Manifestation  of  God's  Saving  Grace  could  be 
made  only  through  the  Incarnation  and  Sacrifice  of  his  Only  Begotten  Son. — 4. 
The  Purpose  of  God  to  repair  tho  Ruin  of  Man  was  made  known  from  the  Fall 
of  Man,  and  was  itself  Eternal. 

I. — 1.  With  the  blessed  word  of  God  in  our  hands,  many 
things  become  perfectly  clear  to  us,  which  but  for  its  teachings 
would  have  been,  as  to  some  of  them,  extremely  uncertain  to  us, 
while  others  would  have  remained  in  profound  obscurity,  if  indeed 
it  had  ever  occurred  to  us  to  meditate  upon  them  at  all.  Whether 
God  would  or  would  not  interfere  to  ameliorate  the  ruined  con- 
dition of  man,  or  to  extricate  him  out  of  it,  are  questions  far  be- 
yond any  ability  of  ours  to  answer  :  nay  it  is  not  certain  that 
we  should,  of  ourselves,  ever  have  had  a  just  conception  of  what 
our  true  condition  was.  God  vindicates  to  himself  his  infinite 
sovereignty  in  interposing  at  all  ;  and  then  again  in  making  his 
interposition  effectual :  while  at  the  same  time  he  continually 
asserts  both  the  ruin  and  the  helplessness  of  man.  They  who 
receive  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  receive  the  Son  of  God, 
by  reason  of  being  themselves  born  of  God.  Born,  says  the 
Apostle  John,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of 
the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.1  So  that  the  divine  power  and  the 
new  birth,  are  not  only  explicitly  declared  to  be  the  cause  and 

1  John,  i.  12-14. 


DIVINE     INTERPOSITION.  37 

tin  means,  but  every  other  possible  cause  and  mean  is  expressly 
stated  and  denied.  That  which  is  not  hereditary  in  man,  that 
which  man  cannot  accomplish  for  himself,  and  that  which  no 
man  can  do  for  another,  is  exactly  that  which  is  impossible  ; 
since  these  three  categories  embrace  every  human  way  of  influ- 
encing the  nature  and  condition  of  man.  The  sole  remaining 
way  is  divine.  God  interposes  through  the  Word  made  flesh. 
In  doing  so,  he  docs  it,  not  only  sovereignly,  but  freely,  gra- 
ciously, justly,  effectually,  wonderfully  :  the  grand  end  being  his 
own  glory  :  the  subordinate  end  being  the  salvation  of  man. 

2.  It  is  equally  true,  on  the  other  side,  that  we  could  not  know 
beforehand  that  God  would  not  interpose  to  save  us  :  still  less 
would  it  have  been  possible  for  us  to  know  that  he  could  not  do 
so.  There  were  indeed,  if  they  had  been  known  and  considered 
by  us,  grounds  on  which  to  rest  a  vague  hope,  perhaps  even  a 
vague  expectation,  that  in  some  unsearchable  manner,  he  both 
could  and  would  do  for  us  far  above  all  we  could  ask  or  even 
think.  We  might  have  founded  something  on  the  very  nature 
of  our  own  inner  life  :  ruined  and  yet  hoping  ;  sinning  and  yet 
discontented  with  our  sins  and  with  ourselves  on  account  of  them  ; 
the  ruins  of  a  better  nature  struggling  within  us ;  glimpses  of 
an  immortal  life  caught  by  the  dark  soul ;  the  idea  of  annihila- 
tion and  the  idea  of  eternal  misery  alike  appalling  to  us  ;  strong 
aspirations  for  peace  with  God,  without  knowing  wdierein  it  con- 
sisted or  how  it  might  be  obtained.  We  might  have  founded 
something  also  on  what  we  naturally  know  of  God  :  so  many  proofs 
of  his  mercy  and  goodness,  exhibited  in  so  many  ways  to  so  many 
of  the  unthankful  and  disobedient ;  such  proofs  of  his  absolute 
dominion  and  irresistible  power,  combined  always  with  such  con- 
descension and  forbearance  ;  so  many  intimations  in  nature  and 
in  providence,  that  we  ought  to  trust  that  he  who  had  gone  so 
far  would  go  still  farther — yea  even  to  the  utmost,  to  bless  and 
save  us.  And  we  might  have  founded  something  too  on  the  mixed 
and  contradictory  state  of  all  things  here  below,  looking  for  their 
correction  in  a  future  and  better  state  of  existence,  and  longing 
for  some  purifying  influence  from  above  to  fit  us  for  the  service 
and  enjoyment  of  God  in  that  higher  wrorld. 

3.  The  end  of  all  our  hopes,  our  reasoning,  and  our  medita- 
tions is,  however,  to  turn  the  whole  subject  back  upon  God  and 
over  to  him  absolutely,  as  far  above  any  solution  by  us.     It  is 


38  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

needless  to  add  anything  to  the  immense  diversity  which  we  find 
in  the  speculations  of  mankind  upon  such  a  subject.  As  one  or 
other  view  of  the  case  has  pressed  on  the  mind  of  man  and  occu- 
rred it  supremely;  it  has  conducted  him  to  a  peculiar  view  of 
God,  of  nature,  of  religion,  of  morals,  and  ultimately  of  the 
nature  and  operations  of  his  own  mind  and  soul,  utterly  different 
from  the  views  taken  by  him  who  occupied  himself  with  a  dif- 
ferent aspect  of  the  case.  We  pass  all  by,  as  being,  however 
curious  in  themselves,  altogether  subordinate  in  an  inquiry  into 
Kevealed  Theology. 

4.  It  is  here  then  that  we  come  immediately  to  the  question  of 
a  Divine  revelation.  I  observe  at  once,  that  the  method  I  adopt 
adjourns  the  detailed  treatment  of  that  great  question  to  what  is 
commonly  called  the  department  of  Polemic  Theology :  at  the 
head  of  which  it  will  be  discussed.  In  the  meantime  I  will 
assume  as  true,  authentic,  and  inspired  oracles  of  God,  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  :  and  will  suggest, 
continually,  such  incidental  proofs  as  naturally  arise.  Under 
every  aspect  of  the  subject,  it  is  obvious,  that  any  interposition 
which  it  might  please  God  to  make  for  the  deliverance  of  man, 
must,  to  be  effectual,  be  made  in  such  a  way  as  will  establish  its 
own  reality,  and  make  known  with  certainty  what  God  says  and 
does.  We  are  to  remember  that  we  can  have  no  adequate  con- 
ception of  God,  nor  indeed  any  certain  knowledge  of  him  at  all, 
except  through  the  manifestations  he  makes  of  himself  to  us. 
The  supreme  manifestation  which  he  makes  of  himself  to  fallen 
men,  is  in  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  our  Lord  ;  and  next  to  this,  is 
the  Divine  Scriptures,  wherein  the  whole  will  of  God  is  made 
known  to  us  for  our  salvation  :  and  akin  to  both  is  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  within  us,  awakening,  quickening  and  sanctifying 
the  soul.  It  is  of  no  consequence  to  determine  at  this  point,  in 
how  many  ways  God  has  actually  manifested  himself  to  man ; 
much  less  to  inquire  in  how  many  ways  he  might  make  his  will 
known  to  us.  For  us,  here  is  the  complete  volume  of  his  word  : 
here  is  his  only  begotten  Son,  the  Mediator  between  him  and  us : 
here  is  the  Divine  Spirit,  sent  by  the  Father  and  the  Son.  Omit- 
ing  for  the  present,  every  other  manifestation  of  God,  these  are 
divinely  certain  and  effectual  ways  in  which  Jehovah  manifests 
himself  for  our  salvation  ;  and  therein  is  the  proof  at  once,  and 


CHAP.  IV.]  DIVINE    INTERPOSITION.  39 

the  method  of  his  interposition  to  deliver  man  from  his  estate  of 
sin  and  misery. 

II. — 1.  We  are  not  competent  to  suggest  any  reason  which 
would  have  precluded  an  Almighty  Ruler  from  restoring  man 
after  his  fall,  to  the  position  he  occupied  before  that  fall ;  at  the 
same  time,  by  his  omnipotent  power,  restoring  every  portion  of 
his  universe  to  the  condition  it  occupied  before  the  entrance  of 
sin.  Another,  and  another,  and  a  thousand  trials,  might  have 
been  given  to  Adam.  To  what  end,  we  are  equally  incompetent 
to  say.  The  actual  conduct  of  God  reveals  to  us  what  so  many 
other  parts  of  his  conduct  establishes,  and  what  no  part  of  it  con- 
tradicts— namely :  that  it  is  a  universal  rule  of  the  Divine  pro- 
cedure, from  which  God  never  departs,  and  from  which  he  would 
not  then  depart,  even  to  extricate  the  universe  from  sin  and  death, 
not  to  repeat  a  second  time,  precisely  what  had  failed  before : 
not  to  allow  a  second  opportunity,  so  to  speak,  precisely  on  the 
same  conditions,  which  were  despised  and  rejected  before.  Even 
when  the  fundamental  principle  is  the  same,  the  circumstances, 
or  the  method  of  its  application  is  changed.  They  who  would  not 
stand  in  holiness  under  a  covenant  of  works,  shall  never  be  re- 
stored to  holiness  by  a  covenant  of  works,  nor  stand  thereby  any 
more  forever.  And  this  principle,  sublime  as  it  is,  and  infinitely 
fruitful  as  it  must  become  in  the  dominion  of  a  God  of  unwasting 
fulness,  and  whose  dominion  is  over  all,  and  through  eternity, 
lies  in  a  manner,  at  the  foundation  of  God's  interposition  to  save 
men,  and  rightly  considered,  throws  a  remarkable  light  upon  the 
manner  in  which  the  benefits  of  that  interposition  can  be,  and 
actually  are,  applied  to  us.  The  mode  in  which  man  is  saved  is 
not  the  converse  even  of  the  way  in  which  he  was  lost ;  much 
less  is  the  principle  of  the  two  results  the  same.  On  one  side  it 
is  the  wages  of  sin  which  make  death  inevitable  :  on  the  other, 
it  is  the  gift  of  God,  that  eternal  life  becomes  ours  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.1  How  much  heresy  and  folly  as  well  as 
bad  philosophy  this  simple  but  grand  truth  obliterates  ! 

2.  We  are  not  competent  to  assert,  that  even  if  man  had 
been  restored  to  innocence  and  another  trial,  or  ten  thousand 
successive  trials  had  been  allowed  to  him  on  precisely  the  same 
conditions  as  those  under  which  he  fell,  he  would  have  main- 
tained his  primitive  state  and  reaped  the  promised  reward.     The 

1  Romans,  vi.  23. 


40  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  I, 

interposition  of  God,  therefore,  to  save  him,  or  his  ultimate  per- 
dition, was  inevitable,  even  on  that  hypothesis  :  and  if  an  inter- 
position of  God,  then,  first  or  last,  a  gracious  interposition  :  and 
therefore,  viewing  the  subject  on  the  human  side  of  it,  as  before 
on  the  divine  side  of  it,  we  arrive  at  the  same  result,  namely,  a 
mode  of  saving  him  wholly  different  from  the  mode  in  which  he 
fell,  or  no  mode  of  saving  him  at  all.  All  this  involves,  besides, 
as  we  shall  see  more  fully  hereafter,  that  the  estate  into  which  man 
will  be  brought  by  the  interposition  of  God  to  save  him  is  not, 
and  cannot  be,  similiar  to  the  one  from  which  he  fell ;  but  must 
be  essentially  different  from  it.  The  restored  man  cannot  possi- 
bly be  what  the  unfallen  man  was  :  but  must  be-  essentially  dif- 
ferent, both  in  himself,  and  his  relations  to  God  and  to  the  uni- 
verse. It  follows,  moreover,  that  a  state  of  perfection,  to  a  being 
who  has  moral  freedom,  who  is  morally  accountable,  and  who  has 
a  dependent  being,  affords  no  absolute  security  against  a  lapse 
which  shall  entail  utter  ruin.  Two  examples  only  have  occurred 
in  the  universe,  as  far  as  we  know,  of  races  thus  situated  ;  those 
namely  of  angels  and  of  men.  The  first  resulted  in  the  fall,  and 
the  ruin  without  recovery,  of  part  of  the  heavenly  intelligences  : 
and  all  the  rest  of  them  are  indebted  to  the  interposition  of  God, 
for  their  continuing  steadfast.  The  second  resulted  in  the  fall 
of  the  whole  race  of  man  ;  with  the  rational  possibility  of  the 
recovery  of  them  all,  and  the  divine  certainty  of  the  recovery  of 
the  elect,  through  the  interposition  of  God. 

3.  The  interposition  of  God  in  the  case  of  fallen  man,  is  ob- 
viously susceptible  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  of  either  one  of 
three  results,  each  of  which  is  rationally  possible,  no  two  of 
which  could  occur,  while  some  one  of  them  must  come  to  pass. 
Either  the  whole  race  of  man  must  be  restored  and  saved  :  or 
the  divine  interposition  must  prove  so  far  ineffectual  that  none 
will  be  restored  and  saved  :  or  a  part  of  the  race  will  be  restored 
and  saved,  and  the  remainder  fail  of  restoration  and  salvation. 
One  or  other  of  the  results  is  obliged  to  occur;  because  taken  to- 
gether they  completely  exhaust  the  possibilities  of  the  case.  If 
we  were  to  consider  the  probable  effect  of  the  divine  interposi- 
tion, it  is  most  likely  we  should  decide  that  of  the  three  possible 
events,  the  one  most  likely  to  occur,  would  be  the  restoration  of 
the  whole  race  of  man  :  and  if  our  judgment  were  influenced 
exclusively  by  considering  the  divine  element  which  enters  into 


CHAP.  IV.]  DIVINE    INTERPOSITION.  41 

the  problem,  and  with  our  natural  bias  to  exalt  such  attributes  of 
God  as  seem  to  favor  our  miserable  case,  and  to  overlook  such  as 
seem  to  bear  against  that  case,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  we 
should  rest  firmly  in  this  conclusion.  If  on  the  other  hand,  we 
should  restrict  our  meditations  chiefly  to  the  human  element 
which  enters  into  the  problem,  and  should  consider  man's  terrible 
alienation  from  God,  and  from  all  that  is  true  and  good  ;  we 
could  hardly  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  second  possible  result 
would  occur,  and  that  the  whole  race  would  find  means,  if  left 
to  themselves,  of  defeating  the  most  unsearchable  mercy  of  God, 
rather  than  accept  deliverance  on  any  terms  which  it  would  be 
possible  for  God  to  offer,  and  would  perish  rather  than  be  holy. 
In  like  manner,  if  we  would  estimate  fairly  both  the  elements — 
the  divine  and  the  human,  the  mercy  of  God  and  obduracy  of 
man  in  ceaseless  and  universal  conflict  with  each  other,  the  third 
possible  result  would  appear  to  be  unavoidable ;  and  while  mul- 
titudes would  embrace  God's  rich  provision  for  their  salvation, 
other  multitudes,  perhaps  more  numerous,  would  obstinately 
reject  the  counsel  of  God  against  their  own  souls,  and  even  aggra- 
vate their  perdition  by  adding  the  rejection  of  their  Saviour  to 
the  previous  rejection  of  their  Creator.  This  last  is  precisely 
what  has  happened  since  the  beginning  of  time.  The  whole  sum 
of  human  experience  exhibits  to  us,  as  actually  and  constantly 
occurring,  exactly  that  which,  in  the  given  state  of  the  case, 
seemed  to  human  reason  to  be  inevitable.  And  to  the  same 
purport  are  all  the  declarations  of  the  Word  of  God,  as  to  the 
invariable  effects  of  the  Gospel  amongst  men.  For  while  it  is 
never  wholly  barren,  it  is  never  universally  fruitful.  Everywhere 
it  finds  willing  listeners  who  joyfully  accept  its  divine  teaching, 
and  everywhere  it  encounters  unbelief  and  contempt  :  every- 
where men  are  saved  by  it,  and  everywhere  men  reject  it  and 
perish.  And  herein  lies  one  of  those  remarkable  proofs  of  which 
the  number  is  so  vast  and  the  weight  so  crushing,  that  the 
Scriptures  must  needs  be  true  and  divine,  or  the  testimony  of 
human  reason,  consciousness,  and  experience,  must  needs  be  false. 
The  whole  Gentile  world  for  eighteen  centuries,  wherever  the 
Gospel  has  been  preached,  is  one  boundless  illustration  of  that 
great  conclusion  of  all  the  Apostles,  that  God  did  visit  the  Gen- 
tiles to  take  out  of  them  a  people  for  his  name.1  And  this  is  what 
God  is  doing  still. 

1  Acts,  xv.  14. 


42  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

III. — 1.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  elevate  our  conceptions  high 
enough,  and  extend  our  survey  wide  enough,  to  comprehend  the 
real  nature  of  the  overwhelming  problem  of  a  just  God  interpos- 
ing to  save  a  rebellious  universe  from  the  fate  it  had  brought 
upon  itself,  even  when  the  knowledge  of  his  purpose  to  do  so 
comes  to  us  simultaneously  with  the  knowledge  that  the  universe 
is  ruined.  We  can  readily  understand  that  God  is  under  no 
obligations  whatever,  to  entertain  such  a  problem  :  and  just  as 
readily  that  every  hope  of  man  is  involved  in  its  being  effectually 
and  mercifully  solved.  We  can  perceive  clearly  that  every  in- 
terposition of  God,  must  be  in  perfect  accordance  with  all  his 
own  infinite  perfections,  with  the  nature  and  condition  of  man, 
with  the  relations  of  God  and  man  to  each  other,  and  with  the 
relations  of  both  to  the  whole  universe.  Whatever  comes 
short  of  the  illustration  of  the  infinite  perfections  of  God,  and 
of  his  own  supreme  glory,  and  the  highest  good  of  his  universe 
therein,  is  inconceivable  as  a  motive  worthy  of  him  :  while  what- 
ever is  prompted  by  all  these  considerations  it  is  inconceivable 
that  he  should  not  do.  But  could  it  ever  have  been  conceived 
to  be  possible  that  the  most  complete  of  all  illustrations  of  the 
glory  of  God,  was  to  be  made  to  the  universe  in  the  salvation  of 
lost  man  ;  and  that  in  the  achievement  of  this  boundless  glory 
of  his  love,  God  would  not  spare  his  own  Son,  but  would  freely 
deliver  him  up  for  us  all  V  It  is  in  such  aspects  as  these  of  the 
divine  nature  and  acts,  that  we  may  well  be  overwhelmed  with 
astonishment  alike  at  the  depravity  which  can  resist  such  mani- 
festations, and  at  the  madness  which  can  ascribe  such  conceptions 
to  beings  like  ourselves  ! 

2.  We  see  at  once,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  as  well  as 
from  the  whole  manner  of  treating  it,  that  the  mode  of  God's 
being — the  highest  question  to  which  the  faculties  of  man  can 
be  directed — enters  into  the  whole  matter  we  are  now  consider- 
ing, with  a  controlling  force.  Remitting  to  its  proper  place  the 
particular  discussion  of  that  subject,  it  will  be  sufficient  at  present 
to  accept  the  short  definition  commonly  adopted  by  the  church 
of  God  for  more  than  two  centuries,  by  which  to  illustrate  more 
fully  the  foundation  laid  in  the  very  being  of  God,  for  that  divine 
interposition  to  save  fallen  man,  which  is  in  one  sense  the  funda- 
mental point  of  Revealed  Religion.     "  God  is  a  Spirit,  infinite, 

1  Romans,  viii.  32. 


CHAP.  IV.]  DIVINE    INTERPOSITION.  43 

eternal,  and  unchangeable  in  his  being,  wisdom,  power,  holiness, 
justice,  goodness,  and  truth."  He  who  is  higher  than  the 
heavens,  who  is  deeper  than  hell,  whom  no  man  can  know,  and 
no  man  can  reach,1  is  of  himself,  an  all-sufficient,  self-existent, 
infinite  Being.8  In  his  essence,  he  is  an  infinite  Spirit,  undi- 
vided, and  without  parts,  or  passions.3  It  is  of  his  nature  to 
possess  every  perfection,  in  a  manner  corresponding  to  his  sub- 
stance, and  therefore  infinitely,  eternally,  and  unchangeably. 
Of  these  infinite  perfections,  whose  number  also  is  infinite,  six  are 
stated  in  the  definition,  as  amongst  the  chief  attributes  of  the 
Godhead  known  to  man.  Of  these,  two,  namely  his  Wisdom  and 
his  Power,  are  manifestly  different  from  each  other,  and  from  the 
other  four,  which  are  alike,  namely,  his  Holiness,  Justice,  Good- 
ness, and  Truth.  These  differences  are  sufficiently  expressed  by 
saying  that  Infinite  Power  appertains  to  God  considered  as  an 
Infinite  Spirit,  possessing  Infinite  Intellect  and  Will ;  that 
Infinite  Wisdom  appertains  to  him  considered  with  reference 
to  the  eternal  distinction  of  True  and  False  ;  and  that  Infinite 
Holiness,  Justice,  Goodness,  and  Truth,  appertain  to  him  con- 
sidered with  reference  to  the  eternal  distinction  of  Good  and 
Evil.  That  is,  we  may  call  his  Power  an  Essential  Attribute, 
his  WTisdom  a  Natural  Attribute,  and  the  other  four,  Moral 
Attributes.  In  the  first  two  of  these  six  Attributes  of  God, 
namely,  his  Wisdom  and  his  Power,  we  perceive  nothing  on 
which  we  could  found  any  hope  of  his  interposing  to  deliver  us  ; 
while  in  three  of  the  four  Moral  Attributes,  namely,  his  Holiness, 
his  Justice,  and  his  Truth,  we  perceive  much  on  which  to  found 
the  most  serious,  if  not  insuperable  difficulties,  in  the  way  of  our 
salvation.  And  if  our  knowledge  ended  here,  our  hopes  would 
end  here  also.  But  he  who  spake  to  Moses  on  the  Mount,  as  he 
stood  ready  to  receive,  on  the  tables  of  stone,  the  divine  sum  of 
all  wisdom  for  all  ages,  proclaimed  the  name  of  Jehovah  as  he 
passed  by  his  adoring  servant,  and  then  proclaimed  that  Jehovah, 
even  Jehovah  God,  is  merciful  and  gracious,  is  long-suffering  and 
abundant  in  goodness,  as  well  as  in  truth.4  And  so  it  is  truly 
added  that  God  is  infinite,  eternal,  and  unchangeable,  in  his 
Goodness  no  less  than  in  his  Holiness,  Justice  and  Truth.  And 
so  there  lies  in  the  very  being  of  God,  that  unsearchable  Benefi- 
cence, which  is  the  primal  foundation  of  all  his  unspeakable 

1  Job,  xi.  7-9.        2  Exodus,  iii.  14.  s  John,  iv.  24.        *  Exodus,  xxxiv.  6. 


44  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

grace  and  mercy  to  us  ;  to  which  we  can  follow  back  with  trem- 
bling and  adoring  hearts,  the  whole  chain  of  our  salvation  ;  and 
the  power  of  which  is  manifest  throughout  the  universe,  and 
most  of  all  in  the  cross  of  Christ  ! 

3.  We  preach,  says  the  Apostle  Paul,1  Christ  and  him  cruci- 
fied. Whoever  needs  a  sign  of  the  love  of  God,  let  him  turn  to 
Calvary  :  whoever  needs  a  proof  of  the  wisdom  in  which  God's 
love  flows  to  us,  let  him  look  on  the  cross.  I  preach  a  deliverer 
who  is  God-man  :  I  preach  deliverance  through  that  God-man 
crucified.  The  wisdom  of  God  prompted  by  his  infinite  benefi- 
cence, found  only  that  way  to  save  sinners  :  the  salvation  of  such 
sinners  transcended  the  power  of  God,  except  they  be  washed  in 
that  blood  :  and  then  they  become  divinely  wise  in  the  wisdom 
of  God,  and  divinely  strong  in  the  power  of  God.3  Through 
faith  in  the  blood  of  him  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  pro- 
pitiation for  our  sins,  not  only  may  God  be  just  and  the  justifier 
of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus,  but  he  loudly  proclaims  his 
righteousness  in  the  remission  of  sins,  for  which  nothing  but  his 
forbearance  had  prevented  him  from  cutting  off  all  flesh.3  Nor 
has  immaculate  truth  any  longer  one  word  of  condemnation  even 
for  a  nature  once  utterly  false,  as  soon  as  that  nature  is  trans- 
formed into  the  likeness  of  him  whose  glory  was  in  the  fulness 
of  grace  and  truth,  the  glory  of  the  only-begotten  of  the  Father,4 
and  can  claim  fellowship  with  him,  by  whom  is  not  only  the  sole 
access  to  the  Father,  but  who  is  himself,  the  way,  the  truth,  and 
the  life.6  So  that  every  Attribute  of  God,  of  what  kind  soever, 
his  Wisdom  and  his  Power,  his  Holiness,  his  Justice,  and  his 
Truth — all  prompted  and  marshalled  by  the  eternal  and  unchange- 
able Love  in  which  his  infinite  Goodness  finds  expression,  concur 
in  the  fact,  the  method,  and  the  result  of  his  wondrous  interpo- 
sition to  save  lost  men,  and  his  still  more  wondrous  purpose  to 
make  that  interposition  and  salvation  the  highest  and  the  broad- 
est illustration  of  all  his  infinite  perfections,  to  his  supremest 
glory,  throughout  eternity ! 

4.  In  such  inquiries  and  meditations  as  these,  there  is  danger 
of  a  particular  error  which  is  extremely  natural,  and  which  we 
should  carefully  avoid.  In  trying  to  contemplate  subjects  so 
immense,  and  independently  of  a  divine  revelation,  so  obscure  : 

1  1  Cor.,  i.  23,  24.  3  Rom.,  i.  16,  17.  3  R0m.,  iii.  20-26. 

4  John,  i.  14.  6  John,  xiv.  6. 


OHAP.  IV.]  DIVINE    INTERPOSITION.  45 

the  weakness  of  our  faculties  often  obliges  us  to  study  them 
under  conditions  which  may  not  correspond  throughout  with  the 
events,  and  to  separate,  in  thought,  things  which,  in  reality,  have 
been  continually  united.  In  like  manner  we  are  obliged,  in  order 
to  estimate  the  influence  of  many  events  upon  persons  differently 
situated  from  ourselves,  and  the  significance  of  those  events  in  a 
state  of  knowledge  very  different  from  our  own,  to  omit  in  our 
reasonings  elements,  which  though  well  known  to  us,  and  of 
the  highest  importance,  could  not  have  entered  into  the  case,  in 
the  particular  state  of  it  which  it  is  our  province  to  investigate. 
In  point  of  fact  the  fall  of  man  was  immediately  followed  by  the 
promise  of  our  Saviour;  there  never  wras  a  time  when  God  did 
not  interpose  to  save  man  :  and  the  whole  human  family  might 
have  possessed,  throughout  all  generations,  a  knowledge  of  these 
truths.  Nevertheless,  we  are  bound  to  consider,  and  with  the 
light  we  have  are  competent  to  determine,  the  natural  state  of 
man,  considered  merely  as  under  the  fall  and  independently  of 
any  such  divine  interposition  ;  since  it  is  certain  that  millions  of 
the  human  race  in  all  ages,  have  continued  in  total  ignorance 
that  there  was  any  Covenant  of  Grace,  or  any  Redeemer  of  men  : 
and  since  all  men,  while  they  continue  in  sin,  continue  absolutely 
under  the  covenant  of  works,  by  which  salvation  is  wholly  impos- 
sible of  attainment,  and  are  therefore  in  their  ignorance  and  pollu- 
tion, no  whit  better  off  than  they  would  have  been  if  a  Saviour 
had  never  been  revealed.  We  may  indeed,  go  much  further  and 
say,  that  the  Covenant  of  Grace  is  an  eternal  covenant,  and  that 
it  contemplated  and  repaired  the  fall  of  man  innumerable  ages 
before  man  was  created.  Still,  there  is  an  order  in  contemplat- 
ing these  subjects,  real  in  itself,  and  indispensable  to  their  ade- 
quate comprehension  ;  but  in  the  using  of  which  wre  must  bear 
in  mind  that  no  method  our  weakness  obliges  us  to  adopt  can 
affect  the  absolute  nature  of  the  principles  we  discuss,  or  the 
facts  by  which  they  are  illustrated.  With  God  there  is  no  vari- 
ableness, neither  any  shadow  of  turning  :  what  he  purposes  now, 
he  purposed  from  eternity  :  his  interposition  to  save  man  was  no 
afterthought.  And  the  ruin  of  the  world  is  only  that  much  more 
complete,  that  God  has  been  willing  to  save  it  at  every  step  of 
its  downward  progress,  and  that  man  has  continually  resisted, 
evaded,  and  prevented  all  the  divine  methods  of  making  known 
and  enforcing  the  divine  purposes  of  mercy. 


CHAPTER    Y. 

ENQUIRY  INTO  THE  BEING  OF  GOD:   AND  THE  MANNER  THEREOF. 

I- — !•  The  necessity  of  discussing  these  questions  here. — 2.  If  anything  exists  at  any 
time,  something  must  have  existed  always.  Something  does  exist,  if  nothing 
else,  then  he  who  denies  all.  Therefore  something  has  existed  from  all  eternity. 
— 3.  It  is  certain  that  there  is  a  universe  exterior  to  me,  which  is  not  me,  occu- 
pied by  existences  which  are  separate  from  me,  the  extent  of  which  I  do  not 
know.  It  is  incapable  of  proof,  that  God  may  not  be  one  of  these :  so  that  Athe- 
ism, even  if  true,  could  not  be  proved ;  and  the  eternal  existence  already  proved, 
may  be  God.— 4.  The  fundamental  division  and  distribution  of  all  dependent  ex- 
istences, into  ultimate  classes :  Existence,  Vitality,  Intelligence. — 5.  The  certainty 
of  the  present  existence  of  both  Matter  and  Mind :  and  their  total  dissimilitude. 
The  consequent  certainty  of  the  Eternal  Existence,  of  one  or  other — or  both. 
Forms  of  Atheism. — 6.  Detailed  proof,  that  matter,  even  if  eternal,  is  inert,  and 
uncreative :  that  spirit  is  eternal,  and  is  the  sole  creative  power — if  there  is  any 
such  power. — 1.  Detailed  proof  that  matter  is  created :  that  mind  is  creative  as 
well  as  eternal.  There  is  an  ever-living  Spirit — who  is  God. — 8.  This  Spirit, 
Ever-living,  Creative,  Infinite,  First  Cause,  and  God,  is  Jehovah  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures. — II. — 1.  The  mode  in  which  the  Sacred  Scriptures  treat  this  Question. 
The  influence  of  the  progress  of  thought  and  knowledge  upon  our  treatment  of  it 
— 2.  The  method  here  adopted. — 3.  The  God  of  Natural  Religion,  and  of  man 
considered  as  a  creature. — 4.  Sufficient  if  man  had  not  fallen.  Fundamental  but 
insufficient  for  fallen  man. 

I. — 1.  The  complete  renovation  of  man's  fallen  nature  as  the 
only  method  of  extricating  him  from  an  estate  at  once  depraved 
and  helpless,  full  of  perpetual  sin  and  hopeless  misery  :  and  the 
necessity  and  reality  of  the  gracious  and  eifectual  interposition 
of  God  in  order  to  deliver  him  in  that  manner :  are  the  great 
enquiries  which  have  occupied  us  hitherto.  At  some  point  or 
other,  in  investigations  of  this  sort,  we  are  obliged  to  consider 
certain  questions  touching  God  himself ;  and  certain  other  ques- 
tions touching  man  ;  which  lie  in  a  manner  at  the  foundation  of 
all  moral  disquisitions,  but  which,  in  a  certain  degree,  stand  apart 
from  the  course  of  their  direct  movement,  and  therefore  require,  in 
the  general  method  I  have  adopted,  to  be  treated  at  such  points 


CHAP.  V.]  THE    BEING    OF    GOD.  47 

in  our  progress  as  bring  us  most  naturally  in  contact  with  them. 
At  present  we  come  upon  two  of  these  :  one  relating  to  the  Ex- 
istence of  God,  and  the  other  to  the  Immortality  of  man  ;  both 
of  which  I  have  heretofore  assumed  as  unquestionable.  Others 
have  made  each  of  them  the  logical  starting-point  of  their  whole 
method.  Both  of  them  have  been  eagerly  discussed  from  the 
very  earliest  dawn  of  Philosophy.  I  will  treat  them  briefly  in 
their  order,  and  in  my  own  manner  ;  the  former  in  this  chapter, 
the  latter  in  the  succeeding  one. 

2.  It  is  perfectly  certain  that  if  there  had  ever  been  a  period, 
in  which  uothing  at  all  existed,  it  must  necessarily  have  occurred 
that  nothing  at  all  could  ever  have  existed  after  that,  forever:  since 
it  is  absolutely  undeniable  that  nothing  can  create  itself,  and  that 
nothing  can  produce  nothing.     That  supposed  state  of  universal 
non-existence,  once  established,  is  established  forever.     If  there- 
fore anything  at  all  exists  now,  it  is  infallibly  certain  that,  from 
eternity,  there  never  was  a  moment,  in  which  something  did  not 
exist.     Since  if  there  had  been  such  a  moment,  any  future  exist- 
ence of  anything,  was  utterly  impossible.     It  may  be  very  diffi- 
cult for  us  to  conceive  that  anything  at  all  can  be  created,  under 
any  circumstances  whatever  ;  but  this  difficulty  is  increased  a 
million  fold  when  we  deny  the  existence  of  an  intelligent  Creator  : 
and  it  becomes  a  self-contradiction,  an  impossible  absurdity,  to 
speak  of  a  creation,  when  there  is  not  only  no  creator,  but  noth- 
ing created,  and  nothing  to  create  :  nay,  when  the  very  supposi- 
tion subverts  itself,  by  showing  that  something  capable  of  sup- 
posing does  exist,  and  that  therefore  there  never  could  have  been 
an   instant   of  universal   non-existence.     That  something   does 
exist,  is  known  to  us  with  complete  certainty  ;  for  even  if  nothing 
else  existed,  that  which  doubts  or  denies  all  existence,  must  exist 
itself  before  it  can  doubt  or  deny  ;  or  at  the  very  least  the  doubt 
and  denial  must  exist.     But  in  reality  we  are  as  conscious  of  the 
exercise  of  every  faculty  of  our  souls,  our  minds,  and  our  bodies, 
as  we  are  that  we  doubt  or  deny  anything :  that  is,  we  have 
proof  wdiich  we   are   naturally  incapable   of  disbelieving,    and 
which  in  the  nature  of  the  case  cannot  be  false,  of  our  own  exist- 
ence.    And  besides  our  own  personal  existence  we  have  proof 
just  as  incapable  of  deceiving  us,  and  as  incapable  of  being  dis- 
credited, that  all  the  existences  around  us,  and  exterior  to  us, 
are  not  parts  of  ourselves  ;  but  are  existences  distinct  from  us. 


48  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I, 

Whatever  may  be  their  nature  or  origin,  they  are  as  real  existen- 
ces as  we  are  ourselves.  It  is  perfectly  certain,  that  something 
exists  now.  It  follows  therefore  with  absolute  certainty,  that 
something,  no  matter  at  present,  what,  has  existed  from  all 
eternity  :  and  we  are  utterly  incapable,  not  only  of  believing,  but 
even  of  conceiving  that  the  contrary  could  be  true  ;  any  more 
than  we  can  believe  or  conceive  the  possibility  of  ourselves  both 
existing  and  not  existing,  at  the  same  time.  The  first  point  there- 
fore is  undeniably  established.  Something  has  existed  from  all 
eternity. 

3.  Upon  examining  carefully  into  the  nature  of  what  actually 
does  exist,  we  find  an  immense  variety  and  complexity  of  ap- 
pearances, an  inconceivable  multiplication  and  combination  of 
forces.  We  observe  also  an  endless  concatenation  of  things  and 
of  beings,  apparently  independent  of  each  other,  yet  more  or 
less  influencing  each  other.  A  ceaseless  activity  of  one  sort  or 
another,  manifested  by  everything  which  is  subject  to  our  scru- 
tiny. But  as  we  more  and  more  comprehend  the  nature  and  the 
connections  of  all  things  that  wTe  can  examine  into,  we  find  them 
more  and  more  capable  of  being  reduced  into  order  and  class, 
and  more  and  more  the  subjects  of  precise  knowledge ;  and 
the  more  we  interrogate  nature,  the  more  simple  and  exact,  as 
well  as  comprehensive,  are  the  answers  she  returns  us.  Amongst 
the  simplest  and  the  most  certain  conclusions  at  which  we  ar- 
rive, the  first  in  logical  importance  as  connected  with  the  matter 
before  us,  is  the  distinction  which  is  established  between  our  own 
existence,  and  all  other  existences  around  us.  As  has  been  already 
intimated,  we  have  as  deep  a  conviction  and  as  conclusive  evi- 
dence, that  other  things  exist,  as  that  we  exist  ourselves.  It  is 
as  certain  to  each  one  of  us,  that  there  are  other  existences  be- 
sides ourselves,  and  exterior  to  ourselves,  as  it  is  that  we  our- 
selves exist.  Now  this  first  and  simplest  truth — obvious  and 
hardly  worth  noting,  as  one  might  hastily  suppose— draws  imme- 
diately after  it  the  utter  impossibility  of  establishing  the  truth 
of  Atheism.  Because  as  there  are  existences  besides  myself,  and 
exterior  to  myself,  I  must  explore  the  whole  universe,  and  I  must 
be  sure  that  I  have  explored  it  all,  before  it  is  possible  for  me  to 
know  that  one  of  the  existences  exterior  to  myself,  some  of  which 
have  been  proved  to  be  eternal,  may  not  be  God.  Even,  there- 
fore, if  it  were  true,  that  there  is  no  God,  it  would  be  a  truth, 


CHAP.  V.]  THE    BEING    OF    GOD.  49 

which  in  its  own  nature  did  not  admit  of  being  established,  or 
even  ascertained  by  such  creatures  as  we  are.  So  that  Athe- 
ism is  a  pretence  of  a  positive  belief  of  that  which  does  not 
admit  of  being  proved  to  be  true  ;  and  is  therefore  the  greatest 
perversion  of  the  rational  nature  of  man,  as  well  as  the  greatest 
outrage  on  all  his  religious  instincts.  And  the  existence  of  God 
is  a  truth  of  that  nature,  that,  with  tcu  thousand  ajrpearances 
indicating  that  existence,  and  ten  thousand  hopes  and  aspirations 
in  all  rational  beings  longing  for  that  existence,  and  ten  thou- 
sand probabilities  pointing  to  that  existence,  and  the  total  ab- 
sence of  any  sort  of  indication  against  that  existence,  its  falsity 
and  God's  non-existence  are  utterly  incapable  of  being  proved,  even 
if  both  were  truths.  We  thus  reach  a  second  point  in  our  enquiry  : 
namely,  that  in  this  apparently  boundless  mass  of  existence  ex- 
terior to  us  and  distinct  from  us,  filling  an  apparently  illimitable 
universe,  the  existence  of  every  part  of  which  proves  that  exist- 
ence itself  in  some  form  has  been  eternal  ;  the  existence  of  what 
we  call  God,  may  be  that  eternal  existence  ;  and  at  any  rate, 
that  the  denial  of  this  is  incapable  of  the  slightest  positive  sup- 
port, and  is  contrary  to  all  the  indications  of  the  case,  all  the 
probabilities  of  reason,  and  all  the  instincts  of  our  nature. 

4.  To  advance  another  step.  Considering  all  things  around 
us,  and  especially  considering  the  phenomena  of  our  own  exist- 
ence, we  perceive  that  there  is  another  distinction  entirely  different 
from  the  one  just  considered,  which  runs  through  all  existences, 
and  as  far  as  we  can  discover,  pervades  the  universe,  separating 
all  things  into  two,  and  but  two  classes,  into  one  or  other  of 
which  all  things  foil  of  themselves.  There  is  an  existence  which 
loves  and  hates,  and  fears  and  hopes,  and  reasons  and  judges, 
and  approves  and  condemns.  There  is  also  an  existence  which 
possesses,  apparently,  various  qualities  or  forces,  very  different 
from  these,  such  as  figure,  motion,  weight,  color,  and  the  like  ;  but 
does  not  possess  these.  Whatever  we  know  of,  possesses  one  or 
other  class  of  capacities,  and  exerts  one  or  other  set  of  functions,  as 
above,  and  so  falls  on  one  side  of  this  universal  line  of  demarcation, 
or  is  destitute  of  one  or  other  class  of  them,  and  by  that  means  falls 
on  the  other  side  of  it.  No  matter  how  close  may  be  the  appa- 
rent connection  between  that  which  does,  and  that  which  does  not 
possess  the  opposite  classes  of  these  attributes  ;  the  distinction 
between  them  is  not  only  absolute  and  impassable,  but  is  the  only 


50  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

ineffaceable  distinction  of  that  kind  that  exists  in  the  universe, 


so  far  as  we  know.  Whatever  appertains  to  the  visible  universe, 
all  existences  of  both  the  foregoing  kinds  are  liable  to  a  three- 
fold distribution,  which  we  express  by  calling  them  inanimate, 
animate,  or  rational.  The  Apostle  John  in  that  remarkable  ac- 
count of  the  Saviour  with  which  he  commences  his  Gospel,  begins 
by  informing  us  that  the  existence  of  the  Word  was  eternal ; 
that  the  form  of  its  existence  was  an  in-being  with  God ;  and 
that  it  was  God.  He  then  tells  us  explicitly  that  this  divine  and 
eternal  Word,  which  was  afterwards  made  flesh  for  our  salvation, 
was  the  Creator  of  all  things  ;  and  explains  to  us,  on  the  basis  of 
the  distinction  just  stated,  that  he  is  the  fountain  of  all  Existence, 
of  all  Life,  and  of  all  Intelligence.  As  to  all  that  is  inanimate, 
he  is  simply  its  Creator  :  as  to  all  that  possesses  vitality  in  addi- 
tion to  mere  existence,  he  is  the  maker  of  its  organism  and  the 
fountain  of  its  life,  as  well  as  the  author  of  its  existence  ;  and  as 
to  all  that  rises  still  higher  and  possesses  intelligence  as  well  as 
being,  organism  and  life,  it  is  his  life  which  is  the  fountain  of 
light  to  them.  And  then  he  proceeds  to  explain  in  what  manner 
a  new  and  better,  even  a  spiritual  and  eternal  life  is  bestowed 
upon  us  as  part  of  the  intelligent  creatures  of  God,  by  this  infi- 
nite Creator  and  Eedeemer  of  men.1  It  is  the  third  only  of  these 
three  classes  just  distinguished  that  possesses  the  attributes  I  now 
speak  of.  And  so  proceeding  on  this  divine  knowledge,  we  take 
the  second  and  third  classes,  to  wit,  existences  that  have  life,  and 
existences  that  have  both  life  and  intelligence,  and  separating 
the  last  class  into  two,  according  to  their  spiritual  condition  ;  we 
then  say,  as  instinct  is  to  mere  animate  creation,  and  reason  to 
the  intelligent  creation,  so  is  faith  to  the  new  creation ;  that  is 
to  all  who  have  been  redeemed  by  Christ  and  born  of  his  Spirit. 
But  these  last  distinctions  are  of  use  here  mainly  to  illustrate  the 
wide  and  fundamental  one,  now  immediately  engaging  us. 

5.  The  names  by  which  men  have  agreed  to  signify  the  two 
existences,  into  which  all  things  are  separated,  whether  they  be 
inanimate,  animate,  or  rational  beings,  have  been  very  various. 
They  call  one  soul  and  the  Other  body  :  one  material  and  the 
other  immaterial :  one  matter  and  the  other  mind  :  one  physical 
and  the  other  spiritual.  It  is  the  reality  of  the  distinction,  not 
the  name  that  is  of  any  importance  here ;  the  absoluteness  of 

1  John,  i.  1-14. 


CHAP.  T.]  THE    BEING    OF    GOD.  51 

the  existence  of  both  kinds,  and  the  total  difference  between  their 
respective  natures.  It  is  of  no  consequence,  at  present,  whether 
both  of  them  are  substances,  or  neither  of  them,  or  one  only  ;  nor 
what  sort  of  substances  either  or  both  of  them  may  be  :  but 
only,  that  they  are  not  substantially  the  same,  but  are  substan- 
tially different.  Two  things  exist  which  are  thoroughly  different 
from  each  other  in  all  their  manifestations,  one  of  which  we  call 
mind  and  the  other  matter  ;  and  we  are  just  as  sure  of  the  exist- 
ence of  both  and  of  the  difference  between  them,  as  we  are  that 
anything  at  all  exists.  Both  of  them  exist  in  each  one  of  us  ;  and 
this  we  know  as  certainly  as  we  know  that  either  of  them  exists 
in  us,  or  that  we  exist  ourselves.  Our  knowledge  is  as  positive 
on  this  point,  as  it  is  or  can  be,  in  relation  to  anything  whatever : 
as  positive  as  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  knowledge,  or  such 
a  thing  as  doubt.  But  this  being  clearly  established,  it  follows, 
either  that  both  mind  and  matter  must  have  existed  from  all 
eternity  ;  or  else  that  matter  existed  from  all  eternity  and  pro- 
duced mind  ;  or  else  that  mind  existed  from  all  eternity  and 
produced  matter.  One  or  other  of  these  three  alternatives  must 
be  true  ;  for  they  exhaust  the  subject ;  and  no  other  supposition 
is  possible.  We  have  therefore  reached  the  third  step  in  our  en- 
quiry, namely,  the  certainty  of  the  eternal  existence  of  mind,  or 
matter,  or  both.  In  point  of  fact,  many  have  held  to  the  eternal 
existence  of  both ;  and  the  present  form  of  Pantheism  is,  that 
thought  and  matter  are  the  only  known  attributes  of  the  eternal 
Being,  while  all  existence  is  a  mode  of  one  of  these.  The  pres- 
ent furm  of  Materialism  holds  the  eternal  existence  of  matter, 
and  the  production  of  mind  from  it  as  a  mere  result  or  organiza- 
tion. In  effect,  these  on  one  side  and  the  other,  are  but  forms 
of  Atheism.  They  are  necessarily  destructive  of  the  foundations 
of  all  religion,  whether  considered  morally  or  mentally  :  and 
taking  man  as  he  is,  are  necessarily  productive  of  inward  defile- 
ment and  outward  pollution.  It  is  the  eternal  existence  of  an 
infinite  Spirit,  before  and  separate  from  that  of  the  material 
universe  ;  the  existence  of  a  personal  God,  who  is  an  infinite 
Spirit  and  the  creator  of  all  things  ;  that  is  the  only  form  of 
belief  which  places  man  in  his  true  position,  as  a  dependent,  ra- 
tional, and  accountable  being.  It  remains  therefore  to  clear  this 
point  from  uncertainty. 

6.  Our  own  personal  share  in  the  matter  stands  thus.     We 


52  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD,  [BOOK  I. 

find  in  ourselves  both  these  forms  of  existence,  Spiritual  and 
Material,  most  intimately  united,  and  yet  perfectly  distinct  in 
their  respective  natures.  We  are  perfectly  sure  that  we  did  not 
create  ourselves  :  perfectly  sure  that  we  did  not  create  anything 
in  the  universe  exterior  to  ourselves.  We  are  equally  certain 
that  no  being  who  is  not  infinitely  superior  to  us,  did  or  could 
create  us,  or  anything  else  :  it  is,  if  possible,  more  certain  that  a 
baboon  did  not  create  man,  than  that  man  did  not  create  him. 
It  is  also  undeniably  certain  that  man  is  a  form  of  existence 
very  much  higher  than  any  of  the  forms  of  mere  inanimate  exist- 
ence or  any  of  the  mere  forces  which  exist  in  the  universe.  It 
is  therefore  obvious,  that  what  we  are  incapable  of  doing,  could 
not  be  done  by  any  inanimate  existence,  or  mere  force.  And  as 
all  inanimate  existences  and  all  mere  forces  are  in  their  very 
nature  thus  inferior,  it  is  certain  that  none  of  them  could  have 
created  themselves,  or  us,  or  anything  else.  Moreover,  the  very 
same  state  of  facts,  and  the  very  same  method  of  reasoning,  ap- 
ply to  all  animate  existences  which  are  inferior  to  man  in  dignity 
and  power.  But  it  is  as  certain  that  man  is  superior  to  all  ani- 
mate existences  known  to  us,  as  that  he  is  superior  to  all  inani- 
mate existences.  Therefore  the  brute  creation,  singly  or  unitedly, 
could  no  more  create  themselves  or  us,  than  the  forces  of  the 
universe,  gravitation,  heat,  light,  electricity,  chemical  affinity, 
and  the  like,  could  create  themselves,  or  us.  And  again,  as  man 
is  the  only  form  of  existence,  of  which  we  have  knowledge,  unit- 
ing rational  with  animate  existence  ;  the  only  being  in  whom 
matter  and  spirit  are  found  united  in  their  perfection  if  at  all ; 
and  yet  he  is  wholly  incapable  of  any  act  of  creation  at  all ;  it 
necessarily  follows  that  the  union  of  spirit  with  matter,  whether 
the  matter  be  animate  or  inanimate,  does  not  produce  an  exist- 
ence which  is  capable  of  exercising  any  creative  powers  at  all, 
even  though  the  existence  formed  by  this  union  were  of  the 
highest  conceivable  form.  What  is  more,  it  also  follows  in  like 
manner,  that  if  uncreated  matter  and  uncreated  spirit  had  existed 
only  in  this  united  form,  and  that  of  the  very  highest  order,  from 
all  eternity,  we  cannot  know  or  believe  that  they  would  have 
possessed  in  this  united  form  any  creative  power  :  the  probability, 
as  far  as  our  experience  goes,  being  that  they  would  not.  We 
are  driven  therefore  to  the  inevitable  conclusion,  that  amongst 
the  logical  possibilities  stated  above  (to  wit,  the  eternal  existence 


CHAP.  V.]  THE    BEING     OF     GOD.  53 

both  of  matter  and  mind — or  the  eternal  existence  of  matter- 
producing  mind — or  the  eternal  existence  of  mind-producing 
matter),  several  new  conditions  are  to  be  imposed  : — -fust,  that 
inanimate  matter,  by  itself  cannot  create  either  matter  or  Spirit  : 
second,  that  inanimate  matter,  united  with  spirit,  cannot  create 
either  matter  by  itself,  or  spirit  by  itself,  or  matter  and  spirit 
united.  We  therefore  reach  the  fourth  step  in  our  enquiry, 
namely  :  that  if  matter  has  existed  from  eternity,  it  has  existed 
in  a  form  wholly  destitute  of  all  creative  efficiency,  either  sin- 
gly, or  when  united  to  mind  ;  and  that  if  mind  exists  at  all,  it 
must  have  existed  from  eternity  ;  and  must  be  the  sole  creative 
force  in  the  universe,  if  there  is  a  creative  force  in  the  universe 
at  all. 

7.  But  to  suppose  the  eternal  existence  of  mind,  which,  if  it 
exists  at  all  is  inevitably  certain,  both  of  which  have  been  shown : 
and  to  suppose  it  to  possess  creative  force,  if  any  creative  force 
exists  in  the  universe,  which  it  has  been  shown  it  must  possess, 
if  it  exists  eternally,  and  any  creative  force  at  all  exists,  and  that 
eternal  existence  has  been  shown :  and  then  to  suppose  that  inert 
matter,  whose  eternal  existence  cannot  be  shown,  and  whose 
utter  inability  to  create  has  been  shown,  should  exist  side  by  side 
with  the  eternal  existence  of  mind,  whose  eternal  existence  has 
been  proved,  and  whose  creative  power  has  been  proved,  provided 
any  creative  power  exists  in  the  universe — is  self-contradictious, 
and  absurd.  For  in  the  first  place,  there  can  be  in  the  nature  of 
the  case  but  one  first  cause.  The  most  enormous  proposition 
that  can  be  made  to  human  reason  is,  that  there  is  no  cause  for 
anything,  and  therefore,  of  course,  no  first  cause  :  since  that  there 
is  not  only  a  cause,  but  an  adequate  cause,  for  everything,  is  the 
first  postulate  of  reason,  and  the  one  upon  which  every  rational 
process  of  our  understanding  proceeds.  However  overwhelming 
the  proposition  may  be,  that  the  cause  of  all  other  causes,  should 
itself  have  no  cause  :  it  certainly  doubles  the  difficulty  to  say 
there  are  two  such  uncreated  causes.  We  accept  one  of  them 
only  because  the  structure  of  our  mind  obliges  us  to  take  it ;  and 
because  the  alternative  of  its  rejection  is  infinitely  worse,  and 
utterly  absurd,  to  wit,  that  in  a  universe  where  everything  is  a 
cause,  there  is  no  cause  at  all.  Vv'e  reach  this  proposition  of  a 
first  cause,  by  perfectly  clear  processes  :  but  every  one  of  these 
processes  results  in  a  single  first  cause— as  indeed  the  very  words 


54  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

in  which  both  the  problem  and  the  result  are  expressed,  abso- 
lutely imply,  to  wit,  a  first  cause — one  cause.     It  is  therefore,  a 
gratuitous  absurdity,  from  which  the  human  mind  revolts,  and  is 
self-contradictory  in  terms,  to  say  that  eternal  mind,  creative  if 
anything  is  creative  being  proved,  may  be  accepted  as  a  first 
cause  ;  but  that  inert  matter  proved  to  be  uncreative,  and  not 
proved  to  be  eternal,  must  be  accepted  as  another  first  cause,  side 
by  side  with  it  from  eternity.     In  the  second  place,  if  mind  be 
shown  to  be  eternal,  and  creative  if  anything  is  creative,  as  has 
been  done,  there  is  no  need  for  the  eternal  existence  of  matter, 
even  if  it  were  creative  :  since  its  own  creation  would  be  already 
accounted  for  as  capable  of  occurring  at  any  time,  as  well  without 
as  with  it.     But  the  creation  of  the  first  cause  is  absurd  and  in- 
conceivable.    And  moreover  even  if  it  were  possible  to  suppose 
the  existence  of  two  first  causes,  it  is  ridiculous  to  do  so,  when 
the  second  first  cause  is  proved  to  be  of  itself  an  inefficient  cause  ; 
and  when  it  is  further  proved  that  its  union  with  mind,  so  far 
from  augmenting  the  creative  force  of  mind,  is,  to  the  whole  ex- 
tent of  our  knowledge,  destructive  of  it.     But  it  has  been  shown 
that  matter  of  itself  has  no  creative  power,  and  when  united 
with  mind,  can  add  nothing  to  the  creative  force  of  mind  :  and 
may  destroy  that  creative  force.     Therefore  it  could  not,  from 
eternity,  be  even  an  efficient  cause,  much  less  a  first  cause,  even 
supposing  it  had  existed  from  eternity.     That  which  is  neither  a 
first  cause,  a  creative  cause,  nor  an  efficient  cause,  cannot  possi- 
bly be  an  eternal  cause.     It  can  be  only  an  effect.     The  eternal 
txistence  of  matter  is  impossible.     It  is  created  by  mind.     We 
reach,  therefore,  by  the  most  rigorous  logic,  the  fifth  step  in  our 
enquiry,  namely,  that  the  only  existence  which  is  known  to  us, 
which  by  possibility  could  have  existed  from  eternity,  is  a  spirit- 
ual, immaterial,  mental,  rational  existence.     If  therefore,  we  will 
admit,  or  if  it  can  be  shown,  that  anything  at  all  exists,  and  that 
we  are  capable  of  perceiving  the  proofs  of  that  existence,  both 
of  which  have  been  proved  ;  then  it  may  be  demonstrated  by  an 
invincible  chain  of  argument,  and  established  with  unshaken  cer- 
tainty by  a  series  of  irresistible  deductions,  that  there  has  existed 
in  our  universe,  from  all  eternity,  a  pure  Spirit,  who  is  the  first, 
cause  of  all  things  ;  and  that  from  eternity,  nothing  else  has  had 
any  existence,  except  as  it  has  been  created  by  this  pure  Spirit. 
There  is  therefore  an  ever-living  and  true  God,  the  Creator  of  all 


CHAP.  Y.]  THEBEINGOFGOD.  55 

things  :  and  the  manner  of  his  existence  is  such  as  we  express  by 
saving  that  as  to  his  essence,  he  is  a  Spirit. 

8.  This  pure  Spirit,  the  first  cause  of  all  things,  must  neces- 
sarily be  equal  to  all  that  he  does.  And  it  is  impossible  for  us 
to  know  or  to  imagine,  that  he  exhausts  his  perfections  upon 
anything,  or  upon  all  things  that  he  does,  much  less  upon  so 
much  of  what  he  does,  as  we  are  made  acquainted  Avith  :  but 
contrarywise,  it  is  easy  to  show  that  all  he  does  can  be  only  indi- 
cations of  what  he  is.  But  when  we  contemplate  the  immensity 
of  his  universe,  and  the  glory  and  beauty  of  it :  and  the  vastness 
of  his  domain,  and  the  majesty  and  grandeur  of  it ;  we  can  say 
no  less  than  that  he  is  an  Infinite  Spirit :  which  indeed  is  una- 
voidable, alike  on  the  ground  of  his  eternal  existence,  and  his 
creative  power,  and  his  being  the  first  cause.  And  so  the  Scrip- 
tures teach  us  that  his  Power  and  Glory  and  Godhead,  are 
stamrjed  upon  the  whole  universe,  and  can  be  read  in  every  line, 
and  heard  in  every  voice  thereof.1  This  pure,  eternal,  infinite 
spirit,  whose  being  fills  immensity,  whose  power  in  all  its  bound- 
less efficacy  pervades  the  universe,  the  glory  of  whose  being  and 
perfections  is  manifested  in  all  the  works  of  his  hand,  and  in  all 
the  relations  he  sustains  to  every  living  thing,  and  the  absolute, 
undivided,  and  uninterrupted  sway  of  whose  sceptre  and  domin- 
ion, shows  forth,  from  eternity  to  eternity,  his  supreme  Godhead  : 
this  great  Being  is  Jehovah,  the  only  Living  and  True  God.  And 
here,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is  a  demonstration  of  his  Being,  and  of 
the  nature  thereof. 

1L — 1.  The  progress  of  ethical  philosophy  in  general,  and  of 
researches  into  the  great  domains  of  mental  philosophy,  natural 
religion,  and  revealed  theology  in  particular,  have  placed  this 
whole  question  of  the  being  and  nature  of  God — as  a  question 
to  be  argued  and  determined  at  the  bar  of  human  reason — in  a 
different  posture,  no  doubt,  from  that  in  which  it  once  stood. 
The  Scriptures  continually  take  for  granted  the  being  of  God  who 
is  the  author  of  them  ;  and  very  often,  and  very  distinctly,  and 
very  variously  assert,  as  grand  and  unquestionable  truths,  the 
fact,  and  the  mode  of  his  existence.  But  they  do  not,  anywhere, 
in  an  express  statement,  draw  out  the  demonstration  either  of 
that  fact  or  that  mode  :  contenting  themselves  with  relying  on 
the  nature  which  God  has  given  to  man  for  a  response  to  their 

1  Psalm  xix  1-6 ;  Romans,  i.  19,  20. 


56  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

declarations  ;  and  upon  the  natural  and  universal  convictions  of 
our  race,  that  these  declarations  are  true.  And  human  experience 
abundantly  teaches  us  the  sufficiency  of  the  Word  of  God  in  this 
as  in  all  other  respects  :  since  men  do  not  reject  the  Scriptures, 
and  become  blinded  and  abominable  because  they  doubt  God's 
existence  ;  but  they  doubt  God's  existence,  because,  having  re- 
jected the  Scriptures  they  become  abominable  and  blinded.  Still, 
all  men,  and  above  all  they  who  are  set  for  the  defence  of  the 
truth,  ought  to  spare  no  effort  to  understand  all  the  mysteries 
of  God,  and  no  pains  in  defending  them  all;  and  all  men  are 
exhorted  by  God  himself,  to  be  ever  prepared  to  give  a  reason 
for  every  hope  they  cherish  in  divine  things.  And,  as  I  have 
already  said,  the  question  we  have  been  considering,  stands  in  a 
different  posture  from  what  it  once  did — as  indeed  do  most 
questions  of  a  similar  kind.  The  truth  of  God  does  not  change 
— nor  indeed  does  any  truth,  properly  speaking.  The  compass 
of  human  thought  changes,  and  the  circle  of  human  investigation 
enlarges  :  and  the  light  of  the  divine  Word  itself  becomes  clearer 
and  broader,  in  proportion  to  our  fitness  to  behold  it ;  and  the 
light  thrown  upon  it  from  all  outward  sources,  becomes  more 
distinct  and  copious,  with  every  advance  made  by  the  human 
race. 

2.  It  may  be  stated,  therefore,  with  becoming  modesty,  that 
it  will  not  do  for  one  generation  to  rely  too  exclusively  on  the 
labors  of  the  generations  which  have  gone  before,  in  treating  any 
of  those  great  and  difficult  questions  which  lie  underneath  and 
around  the  moral  sciences,  any  more  than  other  sciences  :  and 
they  who  do  so  will  have  to  put  up  with  a  great  deal  that  is  not 
very  satisfactory  to  their  own  minds,  and  that  will  not,  very  prob- 
ably, satisfy  others,  to  whom  it  may  become  their  duty  to  imparl 
it.  I  have  thought  proper,  therefore,  not  to  gather  up  the  general 
outlines  of  the  various  and  very  diverse  methods  by  which  so 
many  others  before  me  have  proposed  to  establish  the  great 
truth  of  the  personal  and  eternal  existence  of  an  infinite,  spiritual 
God  ;  all  of  which  have  in  them  more  or  less  that  is  valuable  ; 
but  rather,  with  what  simplicity  I  could,  to  state  a  single  process 
of  reasoning,  which  after  much  thought  seemed  to  me  to  exhibit 
a  method  in  addition  to  many  others  before  adopted,  by  which 
the  whole  question  might  be  reduced  to  a  brief  compass,  and  be 
placed  in  a  clear  light,  and  upon  a  firm  foundation. 


CHAP.  V.]  TnE    BEING    OF    GOD.  57 

3.  God  thus  made  known  in  nature,  seen  by  reason,  and  ac- 
cepted by  conscience,  the  creator,  the  benefactor,  and  the  ruler 
of  the  universe,  is  the  God  of  man,  his  creature,  considered 
merely  as  man.  This  is  the  God  to  which  natural  religion  looks  : 
the  only  one  of  which  natural  religion  has  any  knowledge  or  any 
need  :  the  only  one   of  which  any  religion,  except  that  which 

rds  man  as  a  sinner,  and  reveals  a  Saviour,  can  treat  :  the 
only  one  with  which  any,  except  such  as  are  taught  by  the  Word 
made  Flesh,  can  have  any  relations.  This  is  the  God  whom 
man  would  have  served  and  enjoyed  forevermore,  if  man  had  not 
fallen. 

4.  Since  man  has  fallen,  it  is  not  as  man  merely,  but  it  is  as 
man  the  sinner,  that  all  his  relations  with  God  must  be  contem- 
plated. In  this  God,  as  thus  made  known  to  him,  there  is  no 
hope  for  the  sinner  man.  Yet  this  God  is  the  only  God.  To 
this  Grod  therefore  he  must  be  reclaimed — or  he  must  perish  : 
and  if  he  should  be  reclaimed,  it  is  this  God,  who  must  in  some 
marvellous  way,  reveal  himself  in  a  light  which  nature  does  not 
teach — for  an  end  of  infinite  mercy,  which  nature  does  not  pro- 
pose— or  even  comprehend.  God  the  creator  and  benefactor  of 
man  the  creature,  must  pass  over  and  become  God  the  Saviour  of 
man  the  sinner.  But  it  is  still  the  same  "  God  over  all,  and  blessed 
forevermore."  While  the  knowledge  of  this  God  is  therefore 
fundamental  in  Christianity,  and  is  made  all  the  more  glorious 
and  precious  as  the  Christian  more  and  more  comprehends  his 
being  and  perfections,  and  draws  nigher  and  nigher  to  him  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ;  it  is  a  knowledge,  by  itself  and  to  the 
extent  which  nature  alone  is  capable  of  attaining  it,  wholly  in- 
sufficient to  save  sinful  man.  Because  it  cannot  be  too  distinctly 
repeated,  this  is  the  knowledge  of  God  as  known  to  us  in  nature 
and  under  the  Covenant  of  Works,  not  the  knowledge  of  God  as 
known  to  us  in  grace  and  under  the  Covenant  of  Grace  :  it  is  the 
knowledge  of  God  the  Creator,  not  of  God  the  Saviour  :  it  is  the 
knowledge  of  God  contemplating  man  as  his  creature  always 
bound  and  once  able  to  serve  and  enjoy  him  to  perfection,  not 
the  knowledge  of  God  contemplating  man  as  his  fallen  and  help- 
less creature,  whom  he  has  become  Incarnate  to  save.  The 
same  glorious  God  ;  but  presented  in  what  different  aspects  to 
man  ! 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE    IMMORTALITY    OF    MAN. 

L — 1.  Usual  mode  of  treating  the  question  confines  it  to  the  Soul.  2.  The  Resurrection 
and  Eternal  union  of  the  Body  with  the  Soul,  totally  changes  the  question.  3. 
Should  totally  change  the  method  of  Treatment. — II. — 1.  Scripture  account  of  the 
original  facts  of  the  case.  2.  Additional  facts,  under  the  Covenant  of  Redemp- 
tion. 3.  The  form  of  Immortality  stated  in  the  Scriptures  the  only  one  possible 
for  man.  4.  Analysis  and  extrication  of  the  exact  question.  5.  Its  precise  nature 
and  relevancy  to  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God. — III. — 1.  Distinction  between 
the  Soul  and  the  Body.  2.  Their  union  in  Man.  3.  The  endless  existence  of 
both — and  their  endless  union  being  proved — the  immortality  of  man  is  una- 
voidably certain  from  his  own  Nature.  4.  Unavoidably  certain  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  case — even  on  supposition  of  the  truth  of  Atheism.  5.  Unavoidably 
certain  from  the  course  of  Providence ;  that  is  from  the  nature  of  things.  6.  Un. 
avoidably  certain  from  the  nature  of  God,  and  the  ends  of  creation  itself. — IV. — 1. 
Singleness  and  brevity  of  the  argument.  2.  Sum  of  it,  and  certainty  of  its  result. 
3.  Actual  commencement  of  our  personal  Immortality. 

I. — 1.  The  usual  mode  of  treating  the  question  of  our  immor- 
tality, when  it  is  considered  philosophically,  is  to  confine  it  entirely 
to  the  soul,  or,  as  it  is  generally  expressed,  the  immaterial  part 
of  man.  And  so  far  as  the  subject  could  be  treated,  indepen- 
dently of  Divine  revelation,  it  is  not  possible  that  it  could  be 
considered  in  any  other  light ;  for  the  resurrection  of  the  body 
is  purely  a  doctrine  of  revealed  religion  ;  and  independently  of 
its  resurrection  or  something  equivalent  thereto,  its  immortality 
is  manifestly  impossible.  Still,  however,  although  we  behold  in- 
cessant, and  apparently  inevitable  changes  and  decay  in  all 
material  things,  we  do  not  behold  and  never  did  heboid,  the  de- 
struction of  a  single  particle  of  matter  ;  and  it  is  demonstrably 
certain,  that  not  a  single  particle  of  it  is  capable  of  being  anni- 
hilated, by  any  force  in  the  universe,  except  that  of  the  same 
Almighty  power  that  created  it.  In  fact  the  indestructibility  of 
matter,  after  it  has  once  been  created,  is  capable  of  a  physical 
demonstration  as  precise  as  it  is  possible  to  conceive  that  any 


CHAP.  VI.]  IMMORTALITY    OF    MAN.  59 

moral  reasoning  could  give  to  the  certainty  of  the  continued 
being  of  the  human  soul,  after  it  has  commenced  its  existence. 

2.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  divine  revelation  has  taught  us 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  human  body,  and  our  own 
researches  have  taught  us  the  natural  indestructibility  of  matter  ; 
the  idea  of  the  immortality  of  the  human  body,  would  very  nat- 
urally occur  to  any  careful  thinker,  as  a  possible  thing  resulting 
from  these  two  facts,  even  in  the  absence  of  a  positive  revelation 
that  it  was  immortal.  That  is,  accepting  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  as  true  ;  the  natural  immortality  of  man 
is  placed  on  a  footing  widely  different  from  that  on  which  it 
stood,  in  the  contemplations  and  discussions  of  heathen  philoso- 
phers. It  follows  that  Christian  philosophers,  in  discussing  the 
immortality  of  the  human  soul,  precisely  after  the  method  of 
the  heathen  philosophers,  as  if  it  were  positively  the  only  part 
of  man  which  could  possibly  be  immortal,  follow  a  vicious  method. 
Because  two  great  ideas  are  left  out,  namely,  the  natural  inde- 
structibility of  matter,  and  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  both  of 
which,  no  matter  how  they  were  obtained,  and  no  matter  whether 
they  are  true  or  false,  open  the  subject  in  an  entirely  different 
way  from  what  it  must  necessarily  have  been  presented  without 
them.  For  after  we  have  got  these  ideas,  it  is  impossible  to  as- 
sume that  they  are  false.  They  must  be  shown  to  be  false,  before 
we  can  proceed  with  the  argument  upon  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  alone,  under  the  assumption  that  it  alone  can  be  immortal. 
But  they  cannot  be  proved  to  be  false  ;  for  one  of  them  is  an 
unquestionable  physical  truth  ;  and  to  disprove  the  other  requires 
the  confutation  of  the  Bible,  on  the  whole  ground  of  its  evi- 
dences. Therefore,  as  before  said,  the  method  is  utterly  vicious  ; 
and  being  hardly  satisfactory  to  the  heathen,  because,  as  we  now 
6ee,  it  was  necessarily  incomplete,  through  their  ignorance  of 
some  of  its  determiate  elements  unwittingly  omitted  ;  it  must 
necessarily  be  still  less  satisfactory  to  us,  from  its  purposely  omit- 
ting determinate  elements,  which  we  know  do  exist. 

3.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection,  which 
I  have  already  said  is  an  ultimate  truth  of  Eevealed  Religion, 
applies  exclusively  to  the  body,  and  exclusively  to  the  human 
body.  And  this  limitation  is  of  the  utmost  consequence,  on  the 
one  hand,  in  settling  the  question  of  a  future  state  for  the  brutes 
that  perish,  that  is  that  do  not  rise  from  the  dead  ;  and  on  the 


60  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

other  Land,  the  question  with,  the  Universalist,  as  to  the  effects 
of  the  resurrection  upon  the  moral  state  of  man  in  a  future  life — 
which  future  life  if  it  be  moral  cannot  be  determined  by  a  change 
which  is  purely  physical,  as  the  resurrection  of  the  body  is.  It 
is  also  to  be  noted,  that  the  change  upon  the  dead  soul  of  fallen 
man,  so  to  speak,  pointed  out  in  the  Scriptures  as  analogous  to 
the  change  in  his  physical  nature,  by  the  resurrection  of  his  dead 
body,  is  what  these  Scriptures  call  the  new  birth.  Further,  that 
new  birth  is  no  more  a  natural  effect  upon  the  soul,  than  that 
resurrection  is  a  natural  effect  upon  the  body  ;  and  it  is  as  ex- 
clusively a  doctrine  of  Revealed  Religion  as  it,  and  as  completely 
an  ultimate  truth  of  revelation.  Here  again  is  the  highest  con- 
dition of  the  soul  utterly  unknown  to  all  the  heathen  philoso- 
phers. That  the  human  body  would  rise  from  the  dead,  and 
that  the  risen  body  would  be  united  to  the  soul,  they  had  no  sus- 
picion, much  less  any  knowledge.  In  total  ignorance  of  these 
fundamental  truths,  they  pursued  that  method,  the  best  they 
knew,  of  discussing  the  soul's  proper  immortality,  upon  the  basis 
almost  universal  with  them,  of  their  belief  in  the  metempsychosis. 
That  Christian  philosophers  still  think  proper  to  follow  such  a 
method,  and  treat  the  wrhole  subject  as  if  there  was  any  reason 
to  believe  that  the  final  condition  of  the  soul  is  an  immortality 
distinct  from  the  body,  is  equally  remarkable  and  absurd. 

II. — 1.  The  account  which  the  Scriptures  give  us  of  this  mat- 
ter is  very  exact.  And  the  opinions  of  Moses  and  Paul  are  as 
deserving  of  our  consideration,  to  say  the  least,  as  those  of  Plato 
and  Confucius  ;  even  if  it  were  merely  a  human  theory.  They 
inform  us  that  man  was  created  by  God  and  placed  in  a  condi- 
tion which  insured  to  him  if  he  had  retained  that  condition,  both 
a  blessed  and  an  immortal  existence  :  that  by  his  own  fault  he 
lost  that  condition,  and  with  it  the  blessedness  of  his  immor- 
tality :  that  as  one  result  of  this  fall,  he  became  subject  to  the 
separation  of  his  soul  and  body,  that  is  to  what  we  call  temporal 
death  ;  as  another  result,  to  the  corruption  of  his  whole  nature, 
both  during  this  life  and  after  death,  which  we  call  spiritual 
death  ;  and  as  a  third  result,  to  the  banishment  both  of  his  soul 
and  his  body,  separated  by  death  and  reunited  in  the  resurrec- 
tion, from  God's  presence  forever,  which  we  call  eternal  death.1 

2.  Now  even  this  eternal  death  involves  of  itself  the  idea  of 

1  Genesis,  i.  ii.  ilL  passim;  Romans,  vi.  23;  Matthew,  xxv.  41;  2  Thess.,  ii.  8. 


CHAP.  VI.]  IMMORTALITY    OF     MAN.  61 

an  eternal  being.  But,  in  the  mean  time  a  new  set  of  facts  is 
stated  by  the  Scriptures,  namely  :  that  it  pleased  God  not  to  leave 
man  in  this  wretched  condition,  but  to  deliver  him  from  it,  so  as 
to  relieve  him  from  temporal  death,  by  the  resurrection  of  his 
body  ;'  from  spiritual  death  by  the  new  birth  ;a  and  from  eternal 
death,  by  bestowing  upon  him  an  immortal  existence  of  blessed- 
ness, after  his  body  had  risen  from  the  grave  and  been  reunited 
to  his  soul.3  How  it  was  that  God  proposed  to  do  all  this,  is  not 
now  to  be  considered  ;  nor  yet  the  conditions,  as  to  man,  upon 
which  all  of  it  should  occur  ;  nor  even  the  result  to  man  if  he 
should  refuse  or  fail  to  obtain  the  full  measure  of  the  benefits 
proposed.  But  only  the  specific  notion  in  it  all  of  man's  immor- 
tality and  the  precise  nature  and  conditions  of  that  immortality 
absolutely  considered. 

3.  What  we  arrive  at  then,  is  the  distinct  conception  of  the 
positive  immortality  of  man  :  the  immortality  of  each  one  of  us, 
soul  and  body,  personally  and  absolutely  :  so  that  we  shall  con- 
tinue to  be  in  eternity,  the  very  being  each  one  of  us  was  here 
on  earth.  I  say  this  is  the  exact  sort  of  immortality  the  Scrip- 
tures teach,  and  any  other  sort  of  immortality  is  of  no  kind  of 
consequence  to  us,  and  is  not  worth  discussing,  except  as  a  mere 
amusement.  For  if  any  other  sort  existed,  it  could  have  no  par- 
ticular relation  to  our  existence .  here,  except  as  a  mere  chance 
that  might  or  might  not  fall  out ;  or  a  mere  caprice  of  God,  or 
of  fate,  without  regard  to  our  past  conduct,  or  our  continued 
conscious  existence.  It  is  comparatively  of  small  account  to  me, 
as  an  inducement  to  do  good,  or  not  to  do  ill,  that  some  other 
being,  in  some  other  sphere,  or  in  eternity,  of  whose  nature  and 
mode  of  existence  I  am  uncertain,  pretending  to  be  me,  or  called 
me,  may  be  benefited  or  injured  by  my  struggles  or  self-denials  : 
and  it  is  just  the  same,  if  that  other  me  who  may  live  eternally 
in  bliss  or  woe,  is  not  the  very  me  who  suffered  here  that  I  might 
hereafter  rejoice,  or  denied  myself  here  that  I  might  not  mourn 
forever.  The  preservation  of  our  personal  identity  throughout 
our  future  conscious  existence,  is  an  indispensable  condition,  to 
every  conception  of  an  immortality,  that  shall  be  for  us,  either 
a  reward  or  a  punishment,  either  a  good  or  an  evil.  But  that 
preservation  immortally  of  our  personal  identity  and  conscious 
existence  is  impossible,  except  we  be  immortal,  both  in  soul  and 

1  1  Corinthians,  xv.  42-44.  3  Romans,  viii.  30.  '  1  Cor.,  xv.  51-58. 


62  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

body.  And  an  immortality  that  lias  no  moral  quality,  or  in 
which  no  moral  distinctions  exist,  or  in  which  moral  qualities  are 
confounded  and  moral  distinctions  disregarded,  is  contradictory 
to  the  nature  of  God  as  a  moral  ruler,  incompatible  with  the 
nature  of  man  as  a  moral  and  accountable  creature,  and  therefore 
impossible  and  absurd.  The  only  immortality  possible  for  man, 
is  that  immortality,  the  conception  of  which  is  most  plainly 
stated  in  the  Scriptures,  and  which  is  an  immortality  of  his  soul 
and  body,  in  a  conscious  and  identical  existence  lasting  eternally. 
4.  It  is  immaterial,  logically,  to  the  present  argument,  how 
many  mutations  the  soul  and  the  body  may  pass  through  ;  or 
how  long  or  how  often  they  may  be  united  or  separated  in  passing 
through  those  mutations.  The  real  question  is  only  as  to  the 
final  and  eternal  state.  It  is  also  immaterial,  logically,  what 
that  final  and  eternal  state  may  be,  as  a  state  of  woe  or  bliss  ; 
only  that  it  be  the  just  result,  and  to  the  very  same  person, 
whose  conscious  and  identical  existence  is  thus  eternally  con- 
tinued. And,  moreover,  it  is  immaterial,  logically,  to  this  argu- 
ment, whether  or  not  the  actual  immortality  of  man  be  con- 
sidered, so  to  speak,  as  natural  and  the  result,  cither  inevitably 
or  intentionally,  of  the  wrork  of  God  in  the  creation  of  man  :  or 
whether  it  be  considered  as  the  result  in  its  form  and  substance, 
of  the  interposition  of  God  to  rescue  man,  the  result,  that  is,  of 
the  incarnation,  sacrifice,  and  resurrection  of  Christ :  or  whether 
both  of  these  facts  be  considered  as  true,  the  former  to  the  wicked 
in  a  natural  immortality  of  woe,  the  latter  to  the  righteous  in  a 
glorious  immortality  of  bliss.  The  grand  point  here  is  that  man, 
in  the  mode  of  existence  in  which  he  was  created,  in  which  he 
fell,  was  redeemed,  died,  and  rose  from  the  dead,  and  was  lost  or 
saved  ;  in  that  very  mode  of  continued  conscious  identical  exist- 
ence, this  created,  fallen,  redeemed,  dead,  risen  and  saved  or  lost 
creature,  with  a  soul  and  a  body,  is  immortal,  and  will  be  eter- 
nally wretched  or  eternally  blessed.  Logically,  I  repeat,  the  case 
is  the  same  on  either  of  the  three  suppositions,  as  to  the  particular 
cause  of  the  actual  immortality  of  man.  In  the  light  of  mere 
philosophy,  the  reasonings  which  many  have  supposed  competent 
to  establish  not  only  the  natural  and  necessary,  but  even  the  in- 
destructible immortality  of  an  immaterial  soul,  may  be  said  to 
be  of  value  chiefly  in  this,  that  they  give  occasion  to  the  soul  to 
reveal  an  argument  much  stronger  than  they  are,  namely,  a  desire 


CHAP.  VI.]  IMMORTALITY    OF    MAN.  63 

for  immortality  so  intense,  that  such  reasonings  can  satisfy  it, 
In  the  light  of  Divine  Revelation,  it  far  exceeds  our  province  to 
say  that  an  immaterial  soul  could  not  be  as  easily  extinguished 
as  a  material  body  by  him  who  is  equally  the  creator  of  both. 
And  -while  it  is  unquestionably  certain  that  the  blessed  immor- 
tality of  the  righteous  is  the  fruit  of  their  union  with  Christ,  it 
is  just  as  certain  that  the  accursed  immortality  of  the  wicked  is 
the  result  of  their  separation  from  him.  They  who  separate  the 
blessedness  or  the  misery  from  the  immortality,  and  while  they 
make  the  two  former  or  either  of  them  relate  to  Christ,  base  the 
latter  in  either  case  on  something  else  ;  should  very  carefully  con- 
sider wdrnt  they  teach.  The  actual  immortality  of  man,  as 
taught  in  the  Scriptures,  has  an  immediate  relation  to  the  incar- 
nation and  resurrection  of  the  Son  of  God  :  and  everything  that 
can  be  called  death  is  not  more  thoroughly  the  product  of  Adam's 
connexion  with  the  human  race  and  with  the  Covenant  of  Works, 
than  is  everything  which  can  be  called  life,  the  product  of  the 
connexion  of  the  Son  of  God  with  the  human  race  and  with  the 
Covenant  of  Grace.  So  that  while  the  natural  existence  of  all 
men  still  depends  on  the  connexion  of  all  men  with  Adam,  the 
immortal  blessedness  of  the  righteous,  is  due  wholly  to  Christ. 
And  while  the  final  condemnation  of  the  wicked,  as  well  as  all 
their  pollution  in  every  state  of  existence,  find  their  root  in  the 
depraved  nature  derived  from  Adam  ;  yet  it  is  impossible  to  say 
that  if  human  nature  had  never  been  united  to  the  divine  nature, 
human  nature  would  nevertheless  have  manifested  the  same 
proper  immortality  of  the  wicked  who  would  have  risen  from  the 
dead  even  if  Christ  had  never  risen  from  the  dead.  The  AjDOstle 
Paul  argues  these  points  expressly  and  at  large.  By  man,  even 
the  first  man  Adam,  who  was  a  living  soul,  death  came.  By 
man  also  even  the  last  Adam,  who  was  a  quickening  spirit,  came 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  And  so,  as  in  Adam,  all  die,  even 
so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  Every  man,  however,  in  his 
own  order  :  and  then  he  gives  an  order  beginning  with  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  and  extending  even  to  "  the  end,"  when  Christ 
shall  have  finished  his  reign,  subdued  his  last  enemy  Death,  and 
delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father.1  And  to  the 
same  purport  is  the  general  testimony  of  all  Scripture,  which 
represents  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Creator,  the  Redeemer,  the  Ruler 

1  1  Corinthians,  xv,  12-26. 


04  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

and  the  Judge  of  men,  as  the  Lord  alike  of  the  living  and  the 
dead,  of  all  worlds,.all  estates,  all  conditions  :  hell  being  as  really 
his  prison-house,  as  the  earth  is  his  footstool,  or  the  heavens  his 
throne.1 

III. — 1.  So  far  from  denying  the  thorough  difference  between 
the  body  of  man,  as  material,  and  the  soul  of  man  as  immaterial, 
I  have,  in  a  previous  chapter,  made  that  fundamental  distinction 
one  ground  of  the  demonstration  of  the  being  of  a  pure  and  infi- 
nite Spirit,  the  Creator  of  all  things.  Nor  can  it  be  contested 
that  the  soul  and  body  of  man  are  capable  of  being  dealt  with 
separately  and  differently  ;  for  the  Scriptures  expressly  teach, 
that  from  their  separation,  at  death,  till  their  reunion  at  the 
resurrection,  they  are  dealt  with  separately  and  differently  :  the 
one,  returned  to  dust,  the  other  gone  to  retribution,  with  God. 
Nor  is  it  intimated  that  the  proper  immateriality  of  the  soul  is  an 
uncertain,  or  unimportant  truth  in  psychology,  morals,  or  .Re- 
ligion, whether  Natural  or  Revealed  :  on  the  contrary,  its  distinct 
proofs,  which  are  clear  and  conclusive,  and  which  show  it  to  be 
wholly  different  in  its  essence  from  the  essence  of  what  we  call 
matter,  are  of  immense  value  in  proving  that  all  the  phenomena 
which  reveal  the  existence  of  intelligence,  are  specifically  incapa- 
ble of  being  produced  by  any  organization  of  matter  whatever  ; 
and  therefore,  that  all  the  dogmas  of  Atheism,  Materialism, 
Naturalism,  Pantheism  and  the  like,  many  forms  of  which  are 
rife  in  our  own  day,  are  as  false  in  philosophy,  as  they  are  baleful 
in  their  effects  upon  the  life  of  man.  Nor  on  the  other  hand,  is 
it  to  be  held  or  allowed,  that  the  physical  nature  of  man — as 
now  existing — is  either  pure  or  capable  of  self-purification  ;  but 
on  the  contrary,  that  it  is  utterly  sinful,  and  hastening  to  death 
on  that  very  account  ;  and  that  it  is  only  in  and  by  reason  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  Just,  that  it  can  be  purified  and  fitted  per- 
fectly for  spiritual  uses,  which  indeed  is  the  only  idea  we  can 
have  of  a  spiritual  body. 

2.  Now  we  are  to  remember  that  as  to  the  absolute  essence, 
either  of  mind  or  matter,  we  know  nothing  at  all,  and  are  appa- 
rently incapable  of  finding  out  any  thing  at  all.  As  to  the 
existence  of  both  of  them,  we  arrive  at  the  knowledge  thereof 
in  the  same  general  way  ;  namely  by  means  of  the  properties, 
qualities  and  forces  they  exhibit ;  that  is,  by  their  respective 

1  Acts,  iii.  21 ;  Phil.,  ii.  6-11. 


CHAP.    VI.]  IMMORTALITY     OF     MAN.  05 

phenomena.  By  these  means  we  do  arrive  at  the  absolute  cer- 
tainty of  the  existence  of  both  of  them  ;  and  have  obtained  a 
large  acquaintance,  and  I  may  add,  a  constantly-increasing  ac- 
quaintance with  both  of  them.  We  can  as  certainly  prove  the 
total  and  essential  difference  of  the  two,  as  we  can  prove  the 
existence  of  either  of  them.  Man  is  the  only  being  known  to  us, 
and  probably  the  only  being  in  the  universe,  in  which  both  are 
united  into  one  living  personality,  with  a  separate  conscious 
existeuce,  which  is  made  up  of  them  both.  And  thus  we  are 
brought  by  another  process,  round  to  the  conclusion  already 
reached,  namely  that  the  proper  and  final  immortality  of  this 
being,  is  the  continuance,  of  his  personal,  conscious,  separate, 
identical  existence  ;  that  is  of  a  mind  and  a  body,  to  wit  his 
own  mind  and  his  own  body  forever. 

3.  Let  us  observe  further,  that  after  clearly  establishing  the 
existence  of  a  soul  in  man,  his  immaterial  part,  which  has  been 
clone  ;  there  is  no  means  by  which  we  could  arrive  at  the 
certainty  of  the  annihilation  of  that  soul,  except  a  divine  reve- 
lation, and  there  is  no  such  revelation.  But,  except  by  annihi- 
lation, there  is  no  means  known  to  us  by  which  an  immaterial 
soul  any  more  than  a  particle  of  matter  could  cease  to  exist. 
Therefore  no  soul  will  cease  to  exist,  but  all  of  them  will  live 
forever.  In  the  same  manner  after  getting  a  clear  idea  of  the 
indestructibility  of  matter,  and  of  the  resurrection  of  the  human 
body,  there  is  no  way  in  which  we  can  conceive  of  the  annihila- 
tion of  the  human  body,  any  more  than  of  an  immaterial  soul, 
except  by  a  direct  act  of  God's  omnipotent  power,  which  is  in- 
capable of  belief,  except  upon  his  own  declaration  ;  and  he  has 
made  no  such  declaration.  Therefore  every  human  body  will 
exist  forever.  Again,  after  we  are  made  acquainted  with  the 
nature  of  our  own  existence,  which  we  are  both  by  reason  and 
revelation,  to  wit  the  union  of  a  reasonable  soul  with  a  material 
body  ;  and  after  we  ascertain  the  proper  immortality  of  both  the 
one  and  the  other,  as  has  been  done  :  there  remains  no  method 
of  preventing  the  personal,  and  continued  self-conscious  existence 
of  each  individual  man,  except  by  separating  eternally,  his  soul 
from  his  body,  and  thus  destroying  his  continued,  identical 
existence.  But  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  know,  in  this  life,  that 
the  separation  which  occurs  at  death,  and  which  is,  so  to  speak, 
an  anti-natural  phenomenon,  will  continue  eternally  :  but  God 

5 


66  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

has  explained  to  us  its  cause  and  its  object,  and  has  expressly 
assured  us  that  the  separation  is  temporary.  And  after  we  have 
once  gotten  the  idea  of  the  reunion  for  eternity,  of  the  soul  and 
body,  separated  temporarily,  and  for  a  special  reason  and  purpose 
at  death,  no  matter  how  we  got  that  idea  ;  the  eternal  existence 
of  man,  soul  and  body,  cannot  be  denied  without  disproving  the 
truth  of  that  idea.  Bu.t  that  idea,  which  is  superhuman  and 
would  never  have  occurred  to  the  human  mind,  except  by  revela- 
tion from  God  ;  so  far  from  being  capable  of  being  disproved,  is 
proved  to  be  true  alike  by  the  circumstances  in  which  it  arises,  by 
the  fact  of  its  existence,  and  by  the  mode  of  its  only  possible 
origin.  Therefore  the  eternal  union  of  man's  soul  and  body, 
both  of  which  have  been  shown  to  be  immortal,  is  certain  :  and 
the  personal,  identical,  self-conscious  existence  of  man,  that  is, 
his  proper  immortality,  is  the  certain  result  of  all  our  knowledge, 
human  and  divine,  concerning  his  nature. 

4.  It  is  also  to  be  observed,  that  even  upon  the  supposition 
of  Atheism  itself,  it  is  not  possible  to  prove  that  man  is  not  im- 
mortal ;  nor  even  to  render  it  probable  that  he  is  not.  The 
direct  contrary.  For,  even  supposing  there  is  no  God,  it  is  still 
certain  that  we  exist.  And  if  we  exist  here,  and  as  we  are, 
without,  any  God,  there  is  no  reason  why  we  may  not  exist  here- 
after also,  without  any  God.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  by  what- 
ever means  we  exist  now  without  any  God,  we  not  only  might, 
but  must  exist  hereafter  without  any  God  ;  unless  those  means, 
whatever  they  are,  can  be  pointed  out,  and  be  shown  to  be  insuffi- 
cient for  our  future  existence,  or  incompatible  with  it  ;  neither 
of  which  is  possible.  On  the  contrary  if  man  be  supposed  to 
have  an  independent  existence,  without  means  exterior  to  him- 
self, then  the  end,  and  the  means  of  his  existence,  are  in  and 
from  himself,  and  his  annihilation  is  impossible,  in  the  very 
nature  of  the  case.  And  it  is  no  answer  to  this  to  say  that  death 
puts  an  end  to  his  existence  :  for  there  are  thousands  of  creatures 
around  us,  all  inferior  to  ourselves,  to  whose  existence  death  ap- 
pears to  put  an  end  ;  and  yet  after  awhile  we  behold  them  revive 
in  new  forms,  and  pass  through  various  mutations,  and  at  length 
recur  again  as  they  were  before  their  death.  Nor  is  it  any 
answer  to  say,  that  as  yet  we  have  not  seen  this  occur  with  man. 
For,  in  the  first  place,  we  do  not  know  except  by  Kevelation, 
what  may  have  occurred  to  the  souls  of  the  dead,  and  therefore 


CHAP.    VI.]  IMMORTALITY     OF     MAN.  C7 

to  say  they  are  extinct,  is  the  very  silliest  thing  we  could  say  • 
and  in  the  second  i^lace,  for  any  thing  we  know,  the  period  of 
man's  mutations  may  be  as  much  longer  than  the  periods  of  the 
mutations  of  the  inferior  creatures,  as  he  is  more  exalted  than 
they,  and  his  mutations  more  glorious  than  theirs.  Now,  if  upon 
the  very  strongest  hypothesis  that  favors  the  annihilation  of  man, 
his  immortality  can  be  shown  to  be,  not  only  probable,  but  appa- 
rently inevitable  ;  it  follows,  that  as  soon  as  that  hypothesis  is 
robbed  of  its  whole  force,  as  for  example  by  proving  the  existence 
of  God,  which  has  been  done  ;  the  force  of  the  truth  the 
hypothesis  was  designed  to  subvert,  becomes  proportionably 
greater  and  more  certain.  Wherefore  the  immortality  of  man  is 
certain,  from  the  nature  of  the  case — as  well  as  from  his  own 
nature,  as  was  before  shown. 

5.  If  we  will  consider  the  nature  and  course  of  things  around 
us,  and  consider  God's  relations  to  them,  and  their  relations  to 
us  ;  the  impression  they  make  upon  the  rational  faculties  of  man, 
is  most  distinct,  and  has  been  nearly  universal  amongst  the  com- 
mon people  in  all  civilized  nations.  This  profound  and  universal 
conviction  may  therefore  be  said  to  be  the  instinctive  testimony 
of  human  nature  itself,  arising  under  and  derived  from  what  we 
call  the  course  of  providence  ;  that  our  race  has  a  proper  immor- 
tality. Thus  :  Here  is  the  infinite  Creator  of  the  universe,  and 
its  almighty  Ruler  and  Benefactor,  on  the  one  side  :  here  on  the 
other  side,  is  man  the  highest  of  his  creatures  known  to  us  in- 
dependently of  Revelation,  the  manifest  head  over  all  the  rest 
of  them,  and  the  peculiar  object  of  his  care  and  love — as  he  shows 
in  innumerable  ways,  and  through  all  ages  :  Here  between  the 
two,  so  to  speak,  is  the  whole  created  universe  beside,  over  which 
and  by  means  of  which,  a  steadfast  and  all-pervading  dominion 
and  providence,  are  exhibited  on  the  part  of  God,  directing  and 
controlling  all  things,  with  reference  to  man  himself.  And  yet 
while  the  physical  universe  abides  in  strength  and  beauty  and 
glory  from  age  to  age,  man,  the  noblest  and  most  perfect  of  the 
works  of  God,  passes,  as  in  a  feverish  dream,  hurriedly  and  wildly 
through  it,  and  his  generations  sweep  after  each  other,  like 
shadows  across  the  face  of  the  vast  creation  of  God.  As  to  every 
thing,  except  man,  all  appears  to  be  perfect  in  its  place,  and  to 
its  end  :  while  as  to  him,  for  whom  all  else  appears  to  be  made 
and  directed  by  God,  nothing  is  perfect,  either  in  its  place,  or  to 


68  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

its  end.  Fallen,  and  depraved,  and  perishing,  yet  full  of  sublime 
intelligence  and  of  imperishable  hopes,  his  days  are  like  a  hand- 
breadth,  and  all  that  he  can  accomplish  while  they  last  is  as 
nothing  compared  with  what  he  feels  he  could  do,  if  he  were 
delivered  from  sin  and  death.  As  to  him,  even  the  dealings  of 
God  with  him,  as  well  as  his  own  dealings  with  others,  are  all 
broken  off  in  the  very  midst  by  the  stroke  of  death,  and  mercies 
and  sorrows  alike,  and  sin  and  righteousness  alike,  are  cut  short 
before  they  are  half  run  out,  often  before  the  first  scene  of  them 
is  enacted.  And  his  own  inner  life  is  rudely  extinguished  in  the 
very  vigor  of  its  development,  when  no  eye  but  that  of  God  could 
see  whereunto  it  would  grow.  If  all  this  wild  mass  of  apparently 
capricious  and  incoherent  results,  be  considered  as  the  determi- 
nate and  final  purpose  of  God  with  regard  to  man,  it  exhibits 
God  to  us  in  a  light  absolutely  appalling  ;  and  presents  man 
before  us  as  an  object  infinitely  to  be  pitied.  But  if  they  are 
to  be  considered  merely  as  the  first  openings  of  an  exalted  and 
eternal  existence  ;  the  rudiments  of  a  scheme  of  providence, 
which  is  infinite  and  everlasting ;  the  elements  of  God's  dealings 
with  fallen  man,  in  a  way  of  discipline,  probation,  punishment, 
and  restoration,  to  be  perfectly  illustrated  and  applied  through- 
out eternity  :  then  indeed  the  case  is  presented  in  a  light 
which  makes  it  perfectly  comprehensible  to  us,  and  most 
glorious  to  God.  It  seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  we  are  forced 
by  the  very  existence,  and  nature  and  ends  of  divine  providence 
to  assert  the  immortality  of  man ;  that  is,  that  it  is  rendered  cer- 
tain from  the  nature  of  things,  as  I  have  already  shown  that  it 
is  certain  from  the  nature  of  man  himself,  and  from  the  nature 
of  the  case. 

6.  God,  as  he  is  revealed  to  us  in  his  word,  as  I  have  repeat- 
edly said,  is  God  the  Saviour  of  man  the  sinner  :  and  herein 
there  is  no  question  of  man's  immortality,  since  Eevealed  Eelig- 
ion  is  full  of  it.  But  God  as  he  is  revealed  to  us  in  his  works, 
is  God  the  Creator  and  Benefactor  of  man  the  creature.  Con- 
templated in  this  light  alone,  I  cannot  see  how  it  is  possible 
to  think  of  God  merely  as  the  creator  and  benefactor  of  man — 
in  which  light  Natural  Keligion  presents  him  to  us — without  per- 
ceiving the  most  conclusive  proofs  of  the  immortality  of  man. 
For  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  that  God  created  all  things,  for 
any  reason  that  was  not  drawn  from  within  himself,  and  which 


CHAP.   VI.]  IMMORTALITY     OF     MAN.  G9 

would  not  terminate  upon  himself:  since  every  other  reason  is 
wholly  unworthy  of  an  infinite  being,  who  alone  is  self-sufficient. 
Seeing  then  that  God  has  created  all  things  for  his  own  glory,  it 
is  manifest  that  the  more  his  universe  is  peopled  with  exalted 
intelligences,  to  whom  he  may  make  himself  known,  to  the  praise 
of  all  his  perfections,  by  means  of  the  works  of  his  hands,  the 
greater  is  the  glory  which  he  will  get  to  himself,  as  the  creator 
and  benefactor  of  his  creatures  :  and  the  higher  his  intelligent 
creatures  rise  in  knowledge  of  him,  and  in  conformity  to  him, 
and  the  longer  they  exis-t  to  praise  him  and  rejoice  in  him,  the 
more  completely  will  he  accomplish  the  very  end  he  had  in  view 
in  the  creation  of  them,  and  of  all  things  :  while  a  universe 
stripped  of  all  intelligent  creatures  who  may  behold  the  glorious 
works  of  God,  and  know  and  praise  him,  no  matter  how  full  that 
universe  may  be  of  the  displays  of  God's  perfections,  by  means 
of  inanimate  and  unintelligent  creatures,  would  come  utterly 
short  of  the  whole  reason  of  any  creation  at  all.  But  it  cannot 
be  imagined  for  an  instant,  that  any  human  being  in  this  life 
ever  did,  or  ever  can  arrive  at  the  full  knowledge  of  God,  or  of 
his  wonderful  works  ;  while  it  is  certain  that  the  overwhelming 
mass  of  our  race,  die  in  the  most  fearful  ignorance  of  both  :  so 
that  if  our  existence  here  is  all  our  existence,  the  very  end  of  our 
creation  is  frustrated,  and  the  very  reason  why  God  created  us  is 
defeated.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  are  to  exist  throughout 
eternity,  as  the  head  of  the  rational  creation  of  God,  the  very 
surest  means  to  effect  God's  design  in  the  creation  of  us,  and  of 
all  things,  are  effectually  secured  ;  and  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  God  throughout  an  intelligent  universe,  will  rise  higher 
and  higher,  and  spread  wider  and  wider  for  evermore.  So  that 
our  annihilation  is  absolutely  incompatible  with  any  idea  we  can 
form  of  the  purpose  of  God  in  the  work  of  creation  ;  and  the 
proper  immortality  of  man,  is  certain  from  the  nature  of  God,  as 
I  have  already  shown  it  to  be  from  the  nature  of  man,  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  and  from  the  nature  of  things. 

IV. — 1.  These  are  by  no  means  all  the  lines  of  argument  by 
which  this  inexpressibly  momentous  truth  can  be  established  ; 
nor  do  our  limits  permit  any  thing  more  than  the  great  outlines 
of  thought,  under  each  successive  head  of  a  demonstration, 
which  however  various,  requires  to  be  compact. 

2.  But  that  which  can  be  proved  by  the  nature  of  things,  by 


70  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

the  nature  of  the  case  itself,  by  the  nature  of  man,  by  the  nature 
of  God,  and  by  a  general  and  comprehensive  demonstration  em- 
bracing the  conception  of  all  these  elements  ;  and  which  has 
besides  the  whole  compass  of  divine  revelation  to  sustain  and 
enforce  k,  may  be  said,  not  only  to  be  placed  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  question  at  the  bar  of  reason,  but  to  be  laid  as  one  of 
the  deepest  foundations  of  all  human  belief  and  conduct. 

3.  Let  us  settle  it,  therefore,  in  our  hearts,  that  we  have  and 
will  eternally  have,  a  personal,  separate,  self-conscious,  identical 
existence  of  soul  and  body  ;  the  very  soul  which  this  day  lives 
and  struggles  within  the  very  body  which  is  to  be  united  with  it 
to  all  eternity.  That  there  is  for  us  a  proper  immortality,  incon- 
ceivably glorious  or  shameful,  the  first  steps  of  which  we  are 
already  treading,  and  the  whole  complexion  of  which  will  be  irre- 
vocably determined  as  we  shall  run  and  finish  this  first  and 
briefest  portion  of  our  course,  with  sorrow  or  with  joy. 


THE   KNOWLEDGE    OF   GOD, 

OBJECTIVELY    CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT   OF   THE  SECOND  BOOK. 

As  the  First  Book  had  for  its  special  subject  Man  and  his  nature  and  estate ; 
so  this  Second  Book,  advancing  to  the  next  stage  of  the  grand  theme  of  the 
knowledge  of  God,  has  for  its  special  subject  the  Saviour  of  Men  and  his 
Person  and  Work.  The  Seventh  Chapter,  which  is  the  First  of  this  Book,  is 
a  condensed  statement  designed  to  give  in  one  clear  view,  as  complete  an  idea 
as  possible  of  the  historic  Christ,  as  an  object  of  distinct  knowledge  unto  salva- 
tion.— In  the  Eighth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Second  of  this  Book,  the  entire  doc- 
trine of  the  Person  of  Christ — Immanuel — God-man,  is  demonstrated  in  all  its 
aspects :  this  being  the  ultimate  basis  upon  which,  not  only  the  reality  but  the 
possibility  of  salvation  for  sinners  must  rest. — The  Ninth  Chapter,  which  is  the 
Third  of  this  Book,  develops  the  office  which  the  Second  Person  of  the  God- 
head became  Incarnate  that  he  might  execute ;  namely  the  office  of  Mediator 
between  God  and  Men,  under  the  Eternal  Covenant  of  Grace ;  the  immediate 
object  thereof  being  the  reconciliation  of  God  and  Men :  and  to  the  full  com- 
prehension thereof,  the  infinite  and  eternal  Dispensation  of  the  Son  of  God,  con- 
sidered absolutely  as  God,  considered  as  the  Creator  of  all  things,  considered  as 
Immanuel — the  Mediator  and  as  such  head  over  all  things,  is  carefully  settled. — 
In  the  Tenth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Fourth  of  this  Book,  the  particular  portion 
of  the  Dispensation  of  the  Son  of  God  which  is  immediately  connected  with  the 
salvation  of  fallen  men,  is  separately  and  fully  considered  ;  and  to  this  end  that 
portion  is  divided  into  two  parts  by  the  Resurrection  of  the  Saviour;  and  his 
whole  work  as  Mediator  from  his  Incarnation  till  his  Resurrection,  is  con- 
sidered in  the  light  of  those  Scriptures  which  represent  him  as  working  out,  by 
his  obedience  and  sacrifice,  in  a  state  of  unspeakable  Humiliation,  an  everlast- 
ing righteousness  for  us  :  and  the  other  portion,  from  his  Resurrection  onward 
eternally,  is  considered  in  the  light  of  those  Scriptures  which  represent  the 
glorified  Redeemer,  in  a  state  of  Infinite  Exaltation,  as  carrying  forward  his 
Mediatorial  work  in  boundless  grace,  with  infinite  power  and  glory,  to  the 
present  and  endless  blessedness  of  his  elect:  and  for  a  deeper  insight  into  the 
whole  as  an  object  of  divine  knowledge,  a  detailed  exposition  is  given  of  a  sug- 
gestion of  Christ  himself  as  to  the  best  method  of  considering  the  immense 
subject — In  the  Eleventh  Chapter,  which  is  the  Fifth  of  this  Book,  it  is  shown, 
in  the  first  place,  that  the  boundless  work  which  Christ,  as  Mediator,  performs 
for  us,  in  us,  and  with  regard  to  us,  is  of  that  nature  that  we  not  only  under- 
stand the  whole  more  clearly,  by  considering  it  part  by  part,  but  that  in  its 


72  ARGUMENT    OF    THE    SECOND    BOOK. 

own  nature  it  exacts  this  mode  of  treatment ;  the  "Word  of  God  itself  establish- 
ing and  constantly  maintaining  the  distinction  observable  in  the  Mediator,  both 
as  Humiliated  and  as  Exalted,  when  considered  as  our  Infallible  Teacher,  when 
considered  as  our  Great  High  Priest,  and  when  considered  as  our  only  King 
and  Lord:  then  in  the  same  Chapter,  an  attempt  is  made  to  estimate  this 
Divine  Mediator  in  his  Prophetic  Office,  as  our  Teacher  of  all  truth  unto  salva- 
tion ;  in  the  course  of  which  the  whole  exercise  of  that  office  by  Christ,  and 
the  confirmation  thereof  by  God  are  treated  of. — The  Twelfth  Chapter,  which 
is  the  Sixth  of  this  Book,  is  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  the  Priestly  Office 
of  the  Mediator,  as  executed  both  in  time  and  in  eternity  :  and  therein  are  dis- 
cussed those  immense  questions  upon  which  our  salvation  depends, — such  as 
the  nature  of  the  Priesthood,  the  Obedience,  the  Sacrifice,  the  Satisfaction  of 
Christ  in  this  world,  and  of  his  Intercession  in  heaven ;  the  nature,  application 
to  us,  and  effects  of  the  righteousness  wrought  out  by  Christ,  the  relation  of 
this  part  of  the  Mediatorial  work  to  our  title  to  eternal  life,  and  our  fitness  for 
that  life  ;  and  the  like. — The  Thirteenth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Seventh  and 
last  of  this  Book,  treats  of  the  Kingly  Office  of  the  Mediator :  wherein  the 
nature  of  that  office  is  pointed  out,  and  the  nature,  perpetuity,  and  endless 
triumph  of  his  kingdom  is  demonstrated,  and  the  salvation  of  every  penitent 
and  believing  member  of  it,  and  the  utter  destruction  of  every  other  Kingdom 
and  of  every  enemy  of  the  King  eternal,  are  shown  to  be  unavoidably  certain ; 
to  which  are  added  the  statement  and  solution  of  the  most  important  questions 
involved  in  the  main  one  discussed. — This  Book  embraces  that  part  of  the 
Knowledge  of  God  commonly  called  Christology  ;  and  its  object  is  to  ascertain 
and  settle  as  an  object  of  positive  knowledge,  the  precise  posture  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  divine  method  of  saving  sinners.  The  fundamental  truths 
established  may  be  summarily  stated  thus :  The  method  of  salvation  is  by  the 
Incarnation  of  God  in  human  nature — and  is  practically  exhibited  in  the  Person 
and  Work  of  Christ  Jesus : — The  Son  of  God,  the  Second  Person  of  the  Trinity, 
took  human  nature,  to  wit  a  human  body  and  a  rational  soul,  miraculously  into 
personal  and  indissoluble  union  with  his  divine  nature,  and  thus  there  was  con- 
stituted of  the  two  natures  in  the  one  person  of  the  Son  of  God — Immanuel — 
the  Mediator — called  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth :  He  is  the  Mediator  between 
God  and  Men,  so  constituted  under  the  eternal  Covenant  of  Grace  between  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the  salvation  of  God's  elect,  and  to 
him  as  a  Saviour  is  exclusively  committed  the  whole  work  of  man's  salvation, 
and  with  it  the  whole  dominion  of  the  Universe  :  His  whole  work  he  perfectly 
accomplishes — partly  in  time  in  an  Estate  of  inexpressible  Humiliation  ending 
with  his  sacrificial  death  and  temporary  submission  to  the  power  of  death — 
and  partly  in  eternity  in  an  Estate  of  Infinite  Exaltation  commencing  with  his 
Resurrection  from  the  dead  and  his  open  and  triumphant  Ascent  to  heaven : 
The  simplest  import  of  the  work  thus  accomplished  is,  that  this  God-man,  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  as  a  Prophet  reveals  to  us  the  Will  of  God — as 
a  Priest  offers  himself  up  as  a  sacrifice  for  us — and  as  a  King  subdues  us  unto 
himself:  The  end  of  all  is,  salvation  for  lost  men — through  divine  Grace — by 
Jesus  Christ. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

JESUS    OF    NAZARETH— THE    SON   OP    GOD,   AND   THE    SAVIOUR   OF 

THE   WORLD. 

I.  1.  The  issues  of  our  being. — 2.  Their  immense  import.  II.  1.  Mission  of  John  the 
Baptist. — 2.  Baptism  of  Christ  by  John.  Christ's  Ministry  begun. — 3.  Lineage 
of  Christ.  His  life  till  his  Ministry  began. — 4.  The  scene  and  idea  of  his  Minis- 
try.— 5.  Scope  and  outline  of  his  Mission. — 6.  Crucifixion  and  Resurrection  of 
Christ. — 7.  The  relation  of  Christ's  sacrifice  to  the  perpetual  Ministry  in  tho 
Church  of  God.  His  Ascension.  Outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost. — 8.  The  Apos- 
tles of  Christ.  Their  Power,  Duty,  and  Sufficiency. — 9.  The  second  coming  of 
the  Lord.  III.  1.  These  facts  all  fundamental. — 2.  The  authority  on  which  they 
rest. — 3.  General  aspect  of  the  Story  of  Christ. — 4.  Infinite  efficacy  of  the  means 
to  the  end. — 5.  The  whole  plan  of  Redemption — superhuman  in  its  conception.— 
G.  The  idea  of  the  Person.  Work,  and  Glory  of  Christ  thoroughly  superhuman, 

I. — 1.  We  are  to  bear  in  mind,  that  it  is  not  a  matter  left  to 
our  choice,  whether  we  shall  exist  hereafter,  any  more  than  it 
was  whether  we  should  exist  here.  Our  being  is  a  dependent 
being — produced  through  the  sovereign  will  of  God  ;  prompted 
so  far  as  relates  to  us,  by  infinite  goodness,  but  designed  for  his 
own  glory  in  the  manifestation  of  himself.  We  can  easily  abuse 
that  existence  to  our  own  unspeakable  misery  :  but  we  are 
wholly  unable  to  rob  God  of  the  glory  which  he  will  get  to  him- 
self by  means  of  it,  whether  we  perish,  or  whether  we  are  saved.1 
We  may  get  through  that  portion  of  our  existence  which  is  but 
a  pilgrimage  leading  to  the  grave,  with  safety  and  success,  and 
secure  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan  of  death,  glory,  and 
honor,  and  immortality  :  but  we  cannot,  by  any  possibility, 
evade  the  issues  that  are  before  us,  or  escape  the  destiny  which 
— on  the  one  hand  or  on  the  other — awaits  us  all. 

2.  It  is  this  fearful  responsibility,  this  impending  catastrophe, 
and  judgment,  and  doom,  this  imperishable  bliss  or  wo,  which 
there  is  no  escaping  :  it  is  all  this,  which  gives  to  our  being  such 

1  2  Cor.,  u.  15. 


74  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  li. 

transcendent  importance,  and  which  invests  every  thing  that  can 
control  the  issues  of  that  being  with  such  vast  import.  If  this 
earth. — such  as  our  being  is,  in  it — were  our  only  home,  and  the 
grave  to  which  we  hasten  our  final  resting-place, — all  the  things 
which  surround  us  here  below,  would  be  of  little  more  signifi- 
cance to  us,  or  we  to  them,  than  the  clouds  which  decorate  the 
sunset,  to  him  who  is  closing  his  eyes  on  them  forever.  But 
when  an  immortality  which  cannot  be  escaped  is  shown  to  be  our 
destiny,  and  God,  and  heaven,  and  hell  are  placed  before  us  as 
infinite  realities,  and  there  is  nothing  left  for  us,  whether  we 
will  or  not,  but  to  incur  a  doom  unspeakably  dreadful,  or  to  reap 
a  reward  beyond  all  that  the  heart  of  man  can  adequately  con- 
ceive ;  then  every  thing  that  approaches  us  becomes  momentous 
to  us,  and  we  to  it,  in  the  degree  that  it  may  be  inwrought  with 
these  fearful  issues.  How  overwhelming  then,  does  the  case  be- 
come, when  it  is  God  himself  who  interposes  to  save  us  from 
endless  perdition  ;  and  when  it  is  by  means  of  the  sacrifice  of  his 
only  begotten  Son,  that  he  proposes  to  accomplish  this  ?  And 
how  terrible  must  be  the  aggravation  of  our  guilt  and  misery,  if 
we  make  our  way  to  destruction,  in  contempt  of  the  majesty  of 
God,  and  of  the  blood  of  Christ  shed  for  us  ? 

II. — 1.  In  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Ceesar 
« — 'Pontius  Pilate  being  governor  of  Judea,  and  Herod  being 
tetrarch  of  Galilee,  and  his  brother  Philip  tetrarch  of  Iturea, 
and  of  the  region  of  Trachonitis,  and  Lysanias  the  tetrarch  of 
Abilene, — Annas  and  Caiaphas  being  the  high  priests  of  the 
Jews  :  the  Word  of  God  came  unto  John,  the  son  of  Zacharias, 
a  descendant  of  Aaron,  and  a  priest  of  the  course  of  Abia,  in 
the  wilderness  of  Judea.  Declaring  himself  to  be  a  messenger 
of  God,  and  acting,  as  he  said,  under  the  express  commands  of 
heaven,  he  came  into  all  the  region  about  the  Jordan,  preaching 
the  Baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins.  He  repre- 
sented himself  to  be  the  forerunner,  predicted  by  the  Jewish 
prophets,  who  should  prepare  the  way  for  that  Messiah,  who  was 
the  grand  object  of  all  their  visions.  The  burden  of  his  testimony 
was,  that  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  was  at  hand,  and  that  there 
should  appear  immediately  One  who  was  to  be  so  infinitely  supe- 
rior to  himself,  that  he  was  not  worthy  to  unloose  the  latchet  of 
his  shoes,  i?nd  who  would  baptize  the  people  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  with  fire  :  One  who  when  he  was  divinely  pointed  out  to 


CHAP.  VII.]  THE    HISTORIC    CHRIST.  75 

hirn,  afterwards,  as  lie  earnestly  declared,  he  called  the  Lamb  of 
God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.1  The  whole  Jewish 
people  were  already  filled  with  a  mysterious  expectation  of 
the  immediate  advent  of  their  Messiah  ;a  a  feeling  kindred 
to  that  strange  expectation  of  the  appearance  of  a  great  de- 
liverer, which  filled  the  heathen  world,  at  the  same  moment. 
And  so  all  the  land  of  Judea,  and  they  of  Jerusalem,  went  out 
to  John  and  were  all  baptized  of  him,  in  Jordan,  confessing 
their  sins.3 

2.  Under  these  circumstances  Jesus  commenced  his  public 
ministry.  The  ministry  of  John  as  his  forerunner,  seems  to  have 
terminated  when  he  baptized  Jesus  in  Jordan  :  for  it  is  written 
that  it  was  only  when  all  the  people  had  been  baptized,  that 
Jesus  demanded,  and  that  John  was  persuaded  to  administer 
that  rite  to  him,4  amidst  the  most  astonishing  and  miraculous 
attestations,  to.  his  Divine  nature  and  mission.  For  the  Holy 
Ghost  descended  in  a  bodily  shape,  like  a  dove  upon  him,  and  a 
voice  came  from  heaven,  which  said,  Thou  art  my  beloved  Son, 
in  whom  I  am  well  pleased.6  And  thus  every  person  of  the  God- 
head is  exhibited  in  this  wonderful  induction  of  the  Saviour  into 
his  work  ;  and  the  highest  human  attestation  is  superadded  :  for 
John  expressly  declared  that  he  did  not  personally  know  who 
was  the  Saviour  of  the  world  :  but  he  knew  that  he  was  to  be 
immediately  manifested  to  Israel  ;  and  he  who  had  sent  him  to 
baptize  with  water,  had  made  known  to  him,  that  he  who  was  to 
baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  should  be  pointed  out  to  him  by 
the  Spirit  himself,  descending  and  resting  upon  him.  He  saw 
the  miraculous  proof,  and  loudly  proclaimed  its  Divine  signifi- 
cance, Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world.6  I  saw,  says  John,  and  bear  record  that  this  is  the 
Son  of  God.7 — Nor  can  it  be  supposed  that  a  transaction  so  won- 
derful, closing  that  special  mission  which  was  the  most  glorious 
ever  given  to  man,  and  opening  the  public  career  of  the  Lord 
himself,  was  in  itself  a  mere  form.  Long  afterwards,  when  the 
Chief  Priests  and  the  Elders  of  the  people  demanded  of  the 
Saviour  as  he  was  teaching  in  the  Temple,  by  what  authority  he 
acted  as  he  did,  and  who  gave  him  this  authority — questions 

1  Luke,  iii.  1-14.  a  Luke.  iii.  15.  3  Mark,  L  5. 

4  Luke,  iii  21 ;  Mat.,  iii.  13-15.  6  Mat.,  iii.  16,  17  ;  Luke,  iii.  22. 

s  John,  L  29-36.  »  John,  L  33. 


76  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

which  they  were  the  very  persons  authorized  to  ask  ;  he  pointed 
them  at  once,  in  a  manner  not  explained  by  him,  but  wonderfully 
significant,  to  the  Baptism  of  John.  Jesus  answered  and  said 
unto  them,  I  also  will  ask  you  one  thing,  which  if  ye  tell  me,  I  in 
like  manner  will  tell  you  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things. 
The  Baptism  of  John,  whence  was  it  ?  from  heaven  or  of  men  ? 
After  reasoning  and  consulting  with  themselves  they  answered, 
We  cannot  tell.  And  he  said  unto  them,  Neither  tell  I  you,  by 
what  authority  I  do  these  things.1  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  significance  of  this  conversation — and  it  probably  was  that 
Christ's  Baptism  by  John  had  a  real  though  not  the  highest 
relevancy,  to  the  authority  which  Christ  habitually  exercised 
about  the  Jewish  Temple  and  the  Jewish  Worship  ;  that  signifi- 
cance is  immensely  increased  by  the  two  parables  which  he 
immediately  proceeded  to  utter  to  them — the  parable  namely  of 
the  obedient  and  disobedient  son,  and  the  parable  of  the  owner 
of  the  vineyard  and  his  husbandmen  who  killed  his  son  :  parables, 
which  they  saw  were  spoken  of  them,  and  of  the  very  matters  to 
which  the  previous  conversation  had  been  directed  ;  and  which 
Jesus  applied  directly  to  their  rejection  of  him, — and  the  conse- 
quent taking  of  the  kingdom  of  God  from  them,  and  giving  it  to 
a  nation  which  should  bring  forth  the  fruits  thereof.2 

3.  Jesus  began  to  be  about  thirty  years  of  age,  when  he  com- 
menced his  ministry  ;3  the  age  at  which  the  Jewish  priests  were 
allowed  to  enter  upon  their  solemn  functions.4  He  was  not  how- 
ever of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  but  of  that  of  Judah.  And  the  sacred 
writers  have  given  us  two  genealogies — one  of  his  descent  through 
his  mother,  by  the  evangelist  Luke,6  back  through  David  and 
Judah  and  Abraham  to  Adam,  and  to  God  :  the  other  through 
Joseph  his  reputed  father  by  Matthew6 — commencing  with  Abra- 
ham and  tracing  down  a  different  descent,  but  still  through  Judah 
and  David,  to  Christ.  Of  the  royal  tribe,  and  of  the  royal  family 
thereof,  to  both  of  which  so  many  and  so  glorious  promises  had 
been  made  by  God  ;  he  was  born,  so  to  speak,  by  accident,  in 
Bethlehem,  the  city  of  his  father  David,7  in  circumstances  of 
great  destitution  :  while  yet  the  angels  heralded  his  birth,  with 
songs  of  glory  to  God  and  of  peace  to  man.8     The  temple  of 

1  Mat.,  xxi.  23-27.         2  Mat.,  xxi.  28-46.       3  Luke,  iii.  27. 

*  Num.,  iv.  passim.  s  Luke,  iii.  6  Mat.,  i. 

1  Luke,  ii.  1-7  and  22-24.  8  Luke,  ii.  9-14. 


CHAP.  VII.]  THE    niSTOKIC    CHRIST.  77 

Janus  was  shut  iu  Borne,  for  the  first  time  during  long  and 
bloody  ages,  in  token  of  universal  peace  :  and  wise  men  from  the 
farthest  East,  guided  by  his  star,  came  rejoicing  with  exceeding 
great  joy  to  worship  him,  whom  they  knew  to  be  born  King  of 
the  Jews.1  He  was  raised  in  great  obscurity  at  Nazareth  in 
Galilee,  out  of  which,  to  a  proverb,  no  good  thing  could  come  : 
and  he  escaped  in  his  tenderest  years  the  sword  of  Herod  the 
usurper  of  the  throne  of  his  ancestors,  only  by  being  an  outcast 
in  Egypt,  the  land  of  their  long  oppression — whither  he  was 
miraculously  led.2  Of  his  training  we  know  only  that  he  waxed 
strong  in  spirit,  filled  with  wisdom  and  the  grace  of  God,  and 
grew  in  favor  with  God  and  men.3  And  of  all  his  life,  from  his 
miraculous  restoration  from  Egypt  in  early  childhood,  till  the 
commencement  of  his  public  ministry  in  the  wonderful  circum- 
stances attending  his  baptism  by  John,  and  his  still  more  won- 
derful temptation  of  Satan  in  the  wilderness,* — but  a  single 
incident  is  preserved,  and  that  occurring  when  he  was  but  twelve 
years  old.6  That  however  as  wTell  as  the  drift  of  all  wo  gather  of 
his  private  life,  shows  how  deeply  and  how  incessantly  the  spirit 
of  his  sublime  mission  was  upon  him,  from  his  youth  up  :  and 
how  in  all  things,  and  at  all  periods  of  his  life,  it  was  his  meat 
and  drink,  to  do  the  will  of  him  who  sent  him,  and  to  accom- 
plish that  for  which  he  came  into  the  world. 

4.  At  length  his  public  ministry  began.  In  the  annals  of  the 
human  race,  there  is  nothing  that  approaches  it — much  less  that 
resembles  it.  It  lasted  scarcely  three  years.  It  was  confined 
entirely  to  Judea,  a  remote  province  of  the  Koman  Empire,  and 
to  the  Jewish  race — a  comparatively  small — a  conquered — and 
most  peculiar  people  ;  and  it  terminated  in  his  public  execution. 
And  yet  during  the  subsequent  eighteen  centuries,  that  brief 
and  strange  ministry,  and  its  fruits,  have  taken  deeper  and 
deeper  root  in  the  human  soul,  and  have  spread  wider  and  wider 
over  the  face  of  the  earth  :  until  it  can  no  longer  be  doubted, 
that  while  the  earth  itself  shall  last,  the  destiny  of  man  upon  it 
will  be  controlled  by  what  Jesus  of  Nazareth  said  and  did. 
Those  three  years,  and  that  ministry,  settled,  irreversibly,  the 
fate  of  man.  And  well  and  truly  might  Jesus  say,  that  the 
judgment  of  this  world  had  now  come,  the  time  to  settle  its  great 

1  Matt.,  il  1-10.  !  Matt,  iii.  13,  14.  3  Luke,  il  39-52. 

<  Matt.,  iv.  1-11.  5  Luke,  ii.  42,  etc. 


78  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

assize,  and  to  cast  out  the  Prince  of  it ;  and  that  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  himself,  he  would  draw  all  unto  him.  And  the  audible 
response  from  heaven, — that  God  was  thereby  glorified — and 
would  be  glorified — has  accomplished  its  promise,  throughout 
the  universe,  and  been  attested  by  all  succeeding  ages.1 

5.  The  object  of  his  mission,  Christ  proclaimed  to  be,  to  save 
the  world.  The  immediate  motive  of  it,  God's  eternal  love  to 
his  perishing  creatures.  His  own  ability  to  accomplish  such  a 
mission,  he  steadily  asserted,  as  resulting  from  his  Divine  ful- 
ness, as  the  Son  of  God — which  he  constantly  claimed  to  be.-2 
The  truth  of  all  his  claims  he  attested  in  innumerable  ways,  and 
amongst  the  rest  by  stupendous  miracles  :  and  then  he  sealed  his 
testimony  with  his  blood.  He  professed  to  have  divine  wisdom  ; 
and  they  who  have  most  attentively  considered  what  he  taught, 
and  how  he  taught  it, — and  who  have  the  most  carefully  observed 
the  effects  of  his  teachings,  are  the  last  to  doubt  that  he  was  in- 
deed the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life.  He  demanded  and 
received  a  divine  worship,  which  by  his  own  doctrine  was  due 
only  to  God,  which  he  declared  himself  to  be  :3  yet  he  performed 
scrupulously  all  the  duties  of  life,  as  if  he  were  a  man — which  he 
acknowledged  he  was — and  his  common  designation  of  himself 
was  by  that  most  significant  phrase  first  applied  to  him  by  the 
prophet  Daniel — The  Son  of  man.4  He  proclaimed  himself  a 
King,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  kingdom  commensurate  with 
the  whole  world :  yet  he  declared  that  his  kingdom  was  not  of  this 
world,  and  avowed  to  those  who  desired  to  follow  him,  that  his 
destitution  was  so  complete,  that  he  had  not  where  to  lay  his 
head.'  He  stood  forth  as  a  mediator  between  an  offended  God, 
and  His  sinful  creatures,  and  terminated  the  case  by  laying  down 
his  life  for  the  party  that  was  wholly  in  the  wrong.  The  most 
pure  and  enlightened  of  all  mortals,  the  most  glorious  of  all 
teachers,  engaged  in  the  most  benign  of  all  missions,  and  execut- 
ing it  with  a  divine  authority,  perpetually  exhibited  ;  he  was 
despised  and  rejected  of  men.  Set  at  naught  by  the  fierce  multi- 
tude, condemned  by  their  rulers,  adjudged  guilty  of  blasphemy 
by  the  regular  authority  of  the  visible  church  of  God,  and  con- 
victed of  treason  amid  the  clamors  of  his  own  countrymen,  by 
the  tribunals  of  a  usurper,  exercising  that  royal  authority  which 

1  John,  xii.  27-33.  a  John,  iii.  1-21.         3  John,  x.  26-39. 

*  Dan.,  vii.  13;  Matt.,  xii.  33-50.  s  Luke,  ix.  58. 


CHAP.  VII.]  THE    HISTORIC    CHRIST.  79 

had  been  wielded  for  so  many  ages,  by  his  own  progenitors  ; 
denied,  forsaken,  reviled,  mocked,  scourged,  he  was  executed  as 
a  malefactor,  with  every  circumstance  of  injustice,  hatred,  and 
contempt.  Yet  all  this  fearful  mockery  at  which  the  heavens 
were  darkened,  and  the  sun  refused  to  give  his  light ;  and  all  this 
ferocious  blood  guiltiness  against  the  Son  of  God,  at  which  the 
earth  itself  shook  with  affright ;  became,  by  a  miracle  of  Divine 
Mercy,  the  very  means  of  accomplishing  the  very  object  which 
had  brought  the  Saviour  into  the  world.  He  redeemed  us  with 
his  own  most  precious  blood.1 

6.  The  wonderful  story  does  not  end  here.  Conceived  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  crucified  under  Pontius 
Pilate,  dead  and  buried  :  but  that  is  not  all.  On  the  third  day 
he  arose  from  the  dead,  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept.  The 
graves  were  opened,  and  many  bodies  of  the  saints  which  slept 
arose  and  went  into  the  holy  city  and  appeared  unto  many.2 
Man  had  thus  exhibited  to  him  for  the  first  time,  the  absolute 
reality  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  A  few  times,  in  the 
course  of  ages,  the  dead  had  been  restored  to  life,  to  complete  a 
mortal  existence  which  had  been  cut  short ;  and  there  dwelt 
then  at  Bethany  near  Jerusalem,  Lazarus  a  friend  of  Jesus, 
whom  he  had  thus  snatched  temporarily  from  the  grasp  of  death.3 
Twice  in  the  ancient  times  examples  had  been  exhibited  by 
God,  one  in  the  case  of  Enoch,  one  in  that  of  Elijah,4  and  then 
by  Christ  himself  a  third  and  still  more  glorious  manifestation 
had  been  made  in  his  own  transfiguration  on  the  mount,6  of  the 
reality  of  that  incomprehensible  change,  which  at  the  coming  of 
the  Lord  at  the  last  trump,  shall  pass  instead  of  death  and 
resurrection,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  upon  all  the  children  of 
God  who  are  alive  and  remain  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord." 
Widely  different  from  mere  restoration  to  mortal  life  ;  widely 
different  from  that  transfiguration  and  translation  which  awaits 
the  living  saints  in  the  great  day,  a  few  examples  of  both  of 
which,  men  had  known  :  there  is  now  shown  to  the  universe  for 
the  first  time,  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  followed  by  the  resur- 
rection of  the  bodies  of  many  of  the  saints  which  slept,  and  which 
arose  and  went  into  the  Holy  City,  the  reality  of  that  stupen- 

1  Matt.,  xxvii. ;  Mark,  xv. ;  Luke,  xxiii. ;  John,  xix.  a  Matt.,  xxvii.  53,  54. 

s  John,  xi.  1-46.  *  Gen.,  ii.  24;  Heb.,  xi.  5;  2  Kings,  iL  1-11. 

s  Matt.,  xvii.  2 ;  Mark,  ix.  2.  U  Cor.,  xv.  51,  52 ;   1  Thess.,  iv.  13-17. 


80  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

dous  restoration,  and  the  true  form  of  the  immortality  of  man. 
And  Christ  himself,  during  about  forty  days,  from  the  feast  of 
the  Passover  at  which  he  had  been  crucified,  to  the  eve  of  the 
feast  of  Pentecost,  the  feast  of  weeks,  as  it  was  originally  called, 
repeatedly  appeared,  after  his  resurrection,  to  his  Apostles  and 
other  of  his  disciples,  and  held  familiar  converse  with  them  : 
having  been  seen  by  many,  on  many  occasions,  and  by  about 
five  hundred  of  his  brethren,  at  one  time,  the  greater  part  of 
whom  were  still  alive,  as  Paul  informs  us,  when  about  twenty- 
six  years  after  that  event  he  wrote  his  first  epistle  to  the  Corinth- 
ians.1 Upon  this  great  fact,  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ 
from  the  dead,  the  Scriptures  insist  as  repeatedly,  and  as  ear- 
nestly as  upon  any  other  fact  in  his  personal  history,  or  in  his 
divine  mission  :  and  it  is  easy  to  understand  why  they  should  do 
this.  For  if  it  be  once  fixed,  it  is  impossible  to  discredit  any  of 
the  preceding  and  dependent  facts  connected  with  his  person  and 
his  work,  or  to  doubt  any  of  the  results  which  he  assures  us  will 
follow  in  connection  with  that  marvellous  event :  because  in  it 
is  found  a  direct  and  explicit  attestation  of  God  himself  to  the 
mission  of  Christ,  of  a  nature  altogether  indisputable.  Whereas, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ  could 
be  disproved,  his  whole  mission  falls  of  itself  to  the  ground.  Yet 
even  in  that  case  every  thoughtful  mind  would  consent  that 
such  a  combination  of  stainless  purity,  goodness,  wisdom  and 
force,  with  cruel  and  impious  imposture,  presented  a  phenome- 
non at  once  contrary  to  human  nature  and  utterly  appalling  to 
human  reason. 

7.  He  had  been  crucified  at  the  feast  of  the  Passover,  that 
great  national  sacrament  of  the  Jews,  in  which  they  commemo- 
rated their  divine  deliverance  in  Egypt,  when  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
passed  over  that  devoted  land,  and  slew  the  first  born  in  every 
habitation  of  the  Egyptians.  As  they  ate  their  paschal  lamb, 
and  commemorated  the  deliverance  of  their  first  born,  they  sacri- 
ficed the  lamb  of  God,  and  slew  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father. 
Nor,  though  they  knew  it  not,  was  this  fearful  sacrificial  mur- 
der less  related  to  all  their  future  than  to  their  great  past. 
Without  developing  this  now,  there  is  one  deep  and  generally 
unnoticed  aspect  of  the  matter  which  puts  in  a  clear  light  many 
things  disputed  among  the  people  of  God.     The  first  born  of 

1  1  Cor.,  xv.  G. 


CHAP.  VII.]  THE    HISTORIC     Cn  It  1ST.  81 

God's  people — the  male  that  opens  the  womb — appears  always 
to  have  stood  in  a  peculiar  relation  to  God.  But  in  that  great 
and  final  plague  upon  Egypt,  when  the  Lord  smote  all  their 
first  born,  and  delivered  all  the  first  born  of  Israel,  the  matter 
assumed  an  aspect  perfectly  distinct :  for  the  blood  which  was 
the  token  between  God  and  his  people,  was  the  blood  of  sacri- 
fice, the  blood  which  pointed  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world,  to  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father, 
who  is  the  first  born  of  every  creature.  And  they  who  perished 
in  Egypt  were  the  males  who  opened  the  womb ;  and  they  who 
were  spared  amongst  Israel  were  the  males  who  opened  the 
womb;  and  the  sacrifice  was  a  sacrament  immediately  relevant 
to  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God ;  and  the  redemption  of  the 
first  born  in  Israel  was  directly  connected  with  the  sacrifice  in 
its  form  and  origin,  and  directly  related  to  the  Son  of  God, 
whose  sacrifice  was  thus  set  forth  and  commemorated.1  Sanctify, 
said  God,  unto  me  all  the  first  born,  whatsoever  openeth  the 
womb ;  it  is  mine.2  After  this,  when  God  in  the  wilderness,  had 
constituted  his  church  in  a  formal  manner  amongst  his  ancient 
people,  founding  it  upon  the  covenant  of  Sacrifice  revealed  in 
Egypt,  and  the  still  more  ancient  covenant  of  circumcision  re- 
vealed to  Abraham,  but  superinducing  upon  the  sacrament, 
many  rites  and  ordinances  :  he  established  a  priesthood  in  Aaron 
and  his  descendants — male  after  male,  and  gave  the  whole  tribe 
of  Levi,  of  which  Aaron  was,  for  perpetual  service  in  divine 
things.3  Now  the  thing  to  be  noted  is,  that  this  designation 
of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  embracing  in  it  the  priesthood  itself,  is  ex- 
pressly a  substitution  of  the  males  of  that  tribe,  for  the  first  born 
males  of  all  Israel :  thus  intimately  connecting  every  thing 
sacred  in  the  Levitical  institutions,  on  the  one  hand  with  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Passover  and  with  the  consecration  therein  of  the 
first  born  unto  God,  and  on  the  other  hand,  with  the  divine 
sacrifice  to  come,  and  with  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  and 
with  whatever  new  form  these  ancient  and  glorious  provisions  of 
mercy  might  put  on.  I  have  taken  the  Lcvites,  saith  God,  from 
amongst  the  children  of  Israel  instead  of  all  the  first  born  that 
openeth  the  matrix  among  the  children  of  Israel ;  therefore  the 
Levites  shall  be  mine.4  And  the  principles  of  all  these  proceed- 
ings are  universal,  and  they  abide  more  clearly  under  the  gospel, 

1  Exod.,  xiii.  1-36.        '  ExocL,  xiii.  2-16.      s  Num.,  Hi.,  passim.        *  Num.,  iil  12. 

6 


82  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

than  in  the  Levitical  institutions,  or  in  those  which  preceded 
them.  And  so  we  are  told  in  express  allusion  to  the  calling  and 
functions  of  the  High  Priest,  that  Christ  himself  was  made  a 
High  Priest,  by  Him  who  said,  thou  art  a  priest  forever  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek  :  and  that  in  like  manner  as  Aaron  was 
called  of  God,  so  no  man  without  the  call  of  God  may  take  on 
himself  the  honor  of  ministering  in  divine  things.1  The  first  call 
was  of  the  first  born,  with  sacrifice  and  miracle  :  then  followed 
the  divine  call  of  Aaron,  and  the  substitution  of  the  Levites  for 
the  first  born  :  then  came  the  only  Begotten,  in  whom  the  first 
born  had  been  called,  and  whose  blood  held  forth  in  that  of  the 
paschal  Lamb  had  redeemed  them  :  and  last  of  all  came  the 
Apostles,  Prophets,  Evangelists,  Teachers  and  Pastors,  given 
amongst  the  chief  ascension  gifts  of  the  First  Born  from  the 
dead.2  The  real  difference  being  chiefly  here,  that  the  glorified 
Eedeemer  calls  his  ministers  of  all  kinds,  by  a  supernatural  call 
and  generation,  instead  of  calling  them  through  a  natural  genera- 
tion, as  was  done  before  Aaron  and  in  his  priesthood.  And  so 
the  feast  of  Pentecost,  in  which  they  commemorated,  year  by 
year,  their  deliverance  from  Egyptian  bondage,  and  God's  mer- 
cies to  them,  in  their  own  land  was  chosen  by  the  Lord,  as  the 
fit  occasion  for  his  own  ascension  up  into  glory,  and  the  outpour- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost :  by  the  one  and  the  other  of  which,  the 
deliverance  of  his  own  elect  is  made  palpable  in  the  leading  of 
Captivity  itself  captive — and  the  divine  agent  of  the  whole 
work  of  grace  within  them  whereby  the  whole  benefits  of  the 
Covenant  of  Kedemption  are  applied  to  them, — is  manifested 
openly  and  the  great  promise  of  the  Father  fulfilled.3  The  fact 
of  the  ascension  of  Christ,  and  the  dependent  fact  of  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  asserted,,  attested,  and  insisted 
on,  in  the  Scriptures,  with  a  distinctness  and  earnestness  pro- 
portioned to  their  fundamental  importance  in  the  economy  of 
Salvation,  by  Jesus  Christ.  Exalted,  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  at 
the  right  hand  of  God,  to  give  repentance  to  Israel,  and  the  for- 
giveness of  sins  ;  it  is  by  means  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  promised  to 
his  people,  purchased  by  his  blood,  and  shed  forth  in  their  hearts, 
that  an  abiding  and  living  witness  is  provided  of  his  own  glorifi- 
cation, and  the  sole  efficient  agent  of  the  life  of  God  in  their  souls 
— is  entirely  exhibited. 

1  neb.,  v.  1-6.  2  Eph.,  iv.  4-16.  3  Acts,  L,  ;'L 


CHAP.  VII.]  TUE    HISTORIC    CHRIST.  83 

8.  The  Lord  Christ  did  not  personally  organize  the  Christian 
church  during  his  ministry  in  the  flesh.  He  lived  in  the  strict- 
est observance  of  the  Jewish  religious  institutions  ;  and  the 
Scriptures  declare  that  he  was  a  minister  of  the  circumcision  for 
the  truth  of  God,  to  confirm  the  promises  made  unto  the  fathers ; 
and  that  tho  Gentiles  might  glorify  God  for  his  mercy.1  He 
purchased  the  Church  with  his  blood,  aud  he  bestowed  upon  it, 
as  on  his  elect  Bride,  infinitely  precious  gifts,  his  word,  his  min- 
isters, and  his  ordinances ;  and  pointing  out  to  her  her  bound- 
less inheritance,  he  bade  her  possess  it  and  occupy  it,  remember- 
ing always  that  it  was  as  her  head,  that  he  was  head  over  all 
things.2  Concerning  his  apostles  especially,  three  things  are  to 
be  noted  with  the  greatest  care  :  one  relating  to  their  power  in 
tho  matter  of  giving  a  new  form  to  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the 
world  ;  one  relating  to  their  duty  in  discipling  all  nations ;  and 
one  relating  to  their  divine  sufficiency  in  both  respects.  As  to 
their  "powev,  it  was  the  power  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  com- 
mitted to  them  and  to  be  exercised  in  His  name.3  Often  before 
his  resurrection,  and  still  oftener,  perhaps,  after  it,  the  things 
pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  were  the  subject  of  his  dis- 
tinct instructions  to  them.4  Whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  ye  shall  loose  on 
earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven :  such  was  the  boundless  form 
in  which  he  invested  them  with  power  and  authority,  to  take 
to  pieces  the  fabric  of  the  Jewish  church,  and  to  erect  in  its 
stead  a  church  for  all  the  families  of  man.  And  repeating  on  a 
different  occasion  the  same  investiture  without  limit  or  condition, 
lie  prefixed  the  emphatic  declaration  that  he  would  give  to  them 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  His  very  last  assurance  to 
them  was,  that  all  power  was  given  unto  him  in  heaven  and  in 
earth  ;  and  that  he  was  with  them  always,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world.  The  entire  ministry  of  all  the  apostles,  as  far  as  it  is 
known  to  us  after  the  ascension  of  the  Saviour,  exhibits  the 
habitual  exercise  by  them  of  this  divine  authority  ;  and  the  New' 
Testament  church  as  held  forth  in  the  writings  of  inspired  men, 
is  the  product  of  their  labors,  and  is,  both  in  its  substance  and 
its  form,  of  divine  obligation.  As  to  the  duty  of  the  Apostles  to 
subdue  all  nations  to  Christ,  the  testimony  of  Scripture  is,  if 

»  Rom.,  xv.  S,  9.  a  Eph.,  i.  20-23.  3  1  Cor.,  v.  4 ;  2  Cor.,  xiiL  10. 

<  Matt.,  xvi.  15-20,  xviil  15-20;  John,  xx.  19-23;  Acts,  L  3. 


84  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

possible,  still  more  distinct.  The  scope  of  divine  mercy  which 
had  originally  flowed  over  all  peoples,  was  again  to  be  released 
from  the  bonds  imposed  on  it  by  the  institutions  given  to  the 
Jewish  people  :  and  mankind  having  seen  a  universal  form  of 
grace  pass  over  and  survive  in  another  form  both  narrow  and 
peculiar,  were  now  to  behold  that  grace  burst  through  every  bar- 
rier, and  in  a  form  perfectly  simple,  universal,  and  effectual 
become  the  common  heritage  of  man.  The  whole  world  was  to 
be  the  field  of  their  efforts,  and  they  were  to  be  witnesses  unto 
Christ,  first  in  Jerusalem,  then  in  all  Judea,  then  in  Samaria, 
and  then  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.1  Whatever 
might  be  intended  by  the  Lord  as  to  the  restoration  of  the  king- 
dom to  Israel,  or  whatever  the  Apostles  might  have  understood 
concerning  the  nature  of  that  great  event  :  it  was  not  to  that  end, 
they  were  sent  as  Apostles,  nor  did  the  times  and  the  seasons 
thereof,  which  the  Father  had  put  in  his  own  power,  appertain  to 
their  apostolic  office  or  obligations.2  They  were  to  be  the  founders 
of  the  new  form  of  the  Church  of  God,  and  witnesses  for  Jesus 
Christ  the  Head  and  Lord  thereof.  And  so  their  commission 
ran — teach  all  nations,  and  having  taught,  baptize  them.  Disci- 
ple them  ;  not  lord  it  over  them.  Teach  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  Christ  had  commanded  :  and  then  gather  them 
into  the  fold  of  Christ,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  To  this  commission  also 
appertain  both  the  assurance  of  the  Lord  that  he  possessed  uni- 
versal and  unlimited  power,  and  the  promise  of  his  presence  with 
them  always,  everywhere.3  We  have  in  our  hands  the  divine 
record  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Apostles  discharged  these 
transcendent  duties  ;  a  record  which,  unto  us  this  day,  is  a  reposi- 
tory of  Eternal  Life.  Touching  the  sufficiency  of  the  Apostles 
for  both  parts  of  their  work,  the  Scriptures  are  as  explicit  as 
they  are  touching  the  nature  of  the  work  itself,  and  the  authority 
by  which  they  performed  it.  The  risen  Saviour  opened  their 
'  understandings,  that  they  might  understand  the  Scriptures  :  and 
most  especially  that  they  might  understand  how  it  behooved  him 
to  suffer,  to  rise  from  the  dead,  and  to  enter  into  his  glory ; 
and  how  it  behooved  them,  as  witnesses  for  him  to  preach  repent- 
ance and  remission  of  sins  in  his  name  among  all  nations.  The 
ascended  Saviour  sent  the  promise  of  His  Father  upon  them,  and 

1  Acts,  i.  8.  3  Acts,  i.  6,  7.  3  Matt.,  xxviii.  16-20. 


CHAP.  VII.]  THE    HISTORIC    CHRIST.  85 

endued  them  with  power  from  on  high,  by  the  Holy  Ghost  with 
which  they  were  filled.1  There  is  nothing  in  the  Scriptures  more 
distinctly  told,  more  transcendantly  important,  or  more  incon- 
testably  established  than  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Gltost  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost.  It  was  the  direct  and  crowning  testimony  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  was  ascended  into  heaven,  and  was  set  down  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  on  high  ;  and  therefore  that  his 
mission  was  divine,  his  work  accepted,  and  man  redeemed.  It 
was  also  the  divine  Unction  of  the  Apostles,  sealing  their  call, 
and  replenishing  them  with  divine  sufficiency  to  accomplish  all 
that  was  involved  therein.  And  it  was  the  beginning  of  that 
glorious  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  peculiar  to  that  whole 
period  of  the  church,  which  extends  from  that  day  to  the  second 
coming  of  the  Lord,  when  he  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a 
shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of 
God,  when  every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  they  also  which  pierced 
him,  and  all  kindreds  of  the  earth  shall  wail  because  of  him.2 
And  thus  we  readily  understand  how  simple  and  how  conclusive 
was  the  answer  of  every  Apostle,  every  time  their  teachings, 
their  authority,  or  their  sufficiency,  was  called  in  question. 
There  was  their  divine  doctrine,  and  there  were  the  mighty 
signs  and  wonders  wrought  by  them.  And  thus  we  understand 
as  well  how  futile,  if  not  impious,  are  the  claims  of  those  who 
pretend  to  Apostolic  dignity,  authority,  and  sufficiency,  without 
one  single  mark  of  the  divine  call  or  the  miraculous  unction  of  an 
apostle,  or  it  may  be,  even  the  lowest  evidence  of  being  a  disciple 
of  Christ. 

9.  There  remains  but  one  more  point  to  complete  this  general 
survey.  What  relates  to  that  second  coming  of  Christ,  to  con- 
summate his  glorious  work,  which  has  been  incidentally  alluded 
to,  besides  which  no  doctrine  of  holy  Scripture  is  more  largely 
insisted  on  by  the  inspired  writers,  and  hardly  any  one  is  so  lit- 
tle considered,  or  so  obscurely  understood  by  Christian  people. 
For  the  present,  I  content  myself  with  a  single  remark,  which  I 
commend  to  the  careful  consideration  of  the  followers  of  Christ, 
as  they  read  the  word  of  God,  and  meditate  thereon  :  Namely 
that,  while  the  first  coming  of  Christ  into  the  world,  is  unde- 
niably, the  great  promise  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  the 

1  Luke,  xxiv.  26  and  44-48  ;  Acta,  L  4,  5,  8,  iL  1-4. 

2  1  Thess.,  iv.  16 ;  Kev.,  i.  7. 


85  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD:  [BOOK  II. 

second  coming  of  Christ  in  a  manner  the  most  glorious  and  over- 
whelming is  just  as  undeniably  the  great  promise  of  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures  ;  and  that  in  point  of  fact,  this  idea  is  so 
thoroughly  inwrought  into  the  very  texture  of  the  Gospel,  that 
it  is  easier  for  a  Jew  to  expound  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  in 
an  intelligible  sense,  which  shall  exclude  the  idea  of  the  Incarna- 
tion of  Christ,  than  for  a  Christian  to  expound  the  New  Testa- 
ment Scriptures  in  an  intelligible  sense,  which  shall  exclude  the 
idea  of  the  return  of  the  Son  of  man,  in  infinite  power  and  glory 
to  reign  upon  this  earth.  It  is  not  the  fact  of  a  millennium,  about 
which  the  faith  of  the  church  of  God  is  divided  and  obscure. 
For  no  pious  heart  can  question  the  fact  that  Christ  is  to  be  be- 
lieved on  in  the  world,  any  more  than  it  can  question  his  supreme 
Godhead,  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  him,  his  dominion 
over  the  unseen  world,  the  call  of  the  Gentiles  into  his  kingdom, 
or  that  he  has  been  received  up  into  glory  ;  since  it  is  placed  in 
the  midst  of  all  these  glorious  truths,  and  expressly  declared  to 
be,  along  with  them,  amongst  the  incontrovertible  elements  of 
the  mystery  of  Godliness.1  What  is  obscure  to  the  church  is  the 
mode  of  this  blessed  millennium  ;  the  personal  relations  of  the 
glorified  God-man  to  it,  and  to  this  earth,  as  the  scene  of  it, 
and  to  his  saints  as  the  subjects  of  his  reign.  The  relations,  also, 
of  it,  to  so  many  other  stupendous  questions,  which  the  Scrip- 
tures have  connected  with  it,  and  which  are  to  receive  a  solution 
in  some  way  intimately  related  to  it  :  the  question  of  God's 
ancient  people, — the  question  of  the  heathen  world, — the  ques- 
tion of  Antichrist, — the  question  of  the  resurrection  of  the  just 
and  the  unjust, — the  question  of  the  generalJudgment, — the  ques- 
tion of  the  final  delivery  of  the  kingdom  of  Messiah,  perfected 
and  completed,  to  the  Father.  This  outline  is  sufficient  to  show 
how  sublime  are  the  events  which  wait  upon  the  future  coming 
of  the  Lord  ;  in  whom  though  now  we  see  him  not,  yet  believing 
we  may  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,  knowing 
that  even  the  very  trial  of  our  faith  will  be  found  unto  praise, 
and  honor,  and  glory  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ.8 

III. — 1.  Such  in  the  way  of  a  most  general  statement  is,  if  I 
may  so  call  it,  the  personal  outline  furnished  by  the  Scriptures 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  To  the  exposition  and  establishment  of  the 
various  points  involved  it,  I  shall  proceed  regularly  and  so  onward, 

•  1  Tim.,  iii.  16.  a  1  Pet.,  i.  7,  8. 


CHAP.  VII.]  THE     HISTORIC     CHRIST.  87 

to  the  successive  .parts  of  the  great  subject  of  Revealed  Theology, 
as  they  open  around  the  person  the  work  and  the  glory  of  Christ, 
its  central  object.  Eor  the  burden  of  my  whole  method  lies  in 
this,  that  the  salvation  of  sinners,  is  the  great  end  of  all  ;  that 
God  alone  could  effect  this  ;  and  that  he  effects  it  only  through 
his  Son,  our  divine  Redeemer. 

2.  All  that  I  have  recapitulated  in  this  general  way,  all  that 
is  involved  implicitly  or  explicitly  in  what  has  been  now  delivered, 
and  in  all  that  concerns  man's  salvation,  rests  for  its  support,  so 
far  as  it  has  any  serious  importance  for  us,  on  the  divine  author- 
ity of  the  Word  of  God.  It  would  therefore  be  appropriate  to 
discuss  in  this  place  and  at  this  point  of  the  development  of  the 
method  adopted,  the  whole  question  of  Scripture  Evidences.  I 
prefer,  however,  not  to  break  the  continuity  of  the  subject,  into 
the  midst  of  which  we  have  now  fully  come  ;  and  will  therefore 
take  for  granted,  as  I  have  intimated  before,  that  the  canonical 
Scriptures  contained  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  as  com- 
monly received,  are  the  Word  of  God,  reserving  the  proof  for 
another  place. 

3.  And  now  in  reflecting  upon  the  plan  of  salvation  offered  to 
us  by  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  which  has  been  briefly  run  over 
so  far  as  his  personal  history  is  concerned,  I  think  it  cannot  be 
denied,  that  his  story  as  delivered  to  us,  is  perfectly  coherent  in 
its  parts,  clearly  intelligible  to  the  humblest  capacity,  and  en- 
tirely consistent  with  all  that  we  know  of  God,  and  of  ourselves. 
Wonderful  as  the  whole  is  when  we  seriously  consider  it,  it  is 
hard  to  imagine  any  reason  except  the  very  depravity  which  it 
proposes  to  heal,  why  it  should  not  commend  itself,  upon  ade- 
quate proof  of  its  verity,  to  the  conscience  of  every  man  in  the 
sight  of  God. 

4.  It  is  perfectly  obvious  also,  that  the  means  whereby  God 
proposes  to  save  us,  in  Christ  Jesus,  are  completely  adequate  to 
the  end  for  which  they  are  employed,  and  are  most  appropriate 
to  him,  to  us,  and  to  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  Marvellous  as 
is  the  grace  displayed,  it  is  not  beyond  the  bounds  of  divine  Love : 
and  the  wisdom,  and  power,  and  righteousness,  and  goodness,  and 
truth,  though  all  are  unsearchable,  yet  are  they  all  exhibited  in  a 
manner,  and  to  an  end,  and  by  a  Saviour,  infinitely  becoming. 
If  fallen  and  depraved  men  can  be  saved  at  all,  they  can  be 
saved  this  way  most  surely  and  most  gloriously. 


88  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK   1\ 

5.  It  is  further  to  be  observed  that  every  essential  feature  of 
this  wonderful  interposition  of  God  to  save  man,  is  superhuman 
alike  in  its  conception  and  in  its  execution.  It  depends  ulti- 
mately upon  the  mode  in  which  God  himself  exists,  and  upon 
the  nature  not  only  of  all  the  attributes  of  his  divine  being,  but 
even  upon  the  mode  in  which  those  attributes  mutually  influence 
each  other,  so  as  to  make  up  the  infinite  glory  and  perfection  of 
his  character.  It  hangs  absolutely  upon  the  eternal  and  un- 
searchable counsel  of  his  own  will — as  the  free,  sovereign,  and 
inscrutable  cause  of  all  things.  So  that  supposing  ourselves  to 
have  been  created  before  all  the  rest  of  God's  creatures,  and  the 
question  of  a  further  and  boundless  creation,  to  have  been  sub- 
mitted by  him  to  us  ; — we  could  more  readily  have  penetrated 
the  creative  counsel  of  God,  and  foreseen  and  contrived  his 
glorious  work  of  creation  ;  than  supposing  us  to  be  fallen  and 
depraved,  and  the  question  of  deliverance  and  restoration,  sub- 
mitted to  us  by  God,  we  could  have  penetrated  his  redeeming 
counsel,  and  foreseen  and  contrived  his  more  glorious  work  of 
salvation.  The  one  and  the  other  is  alike  and  wholly,  beyond 
the  compass  of  human  intelligence  as  a  thing  to  be  independ- 
ently contrived,  much  less  independently  executed  by  man.  We 
can  neither  tell  of  ourselves,  how  a  soul  can  be  created  at  first, 
or  recreated  after  it  has  fallen  :  much  less  can  we,  of  ourselves, 
actually  create  it  or  actually  recreate  it  :  these  are  the  works  of 
God.  And  of  the  two  the  work  of  redemption  is  a  more  illus- 
trious proof  of  the  being  of  God,  and  a  more  complete  illustration 
of  his  infinite  perfections,  than  the  work  of  creation. 

6.  And  finally,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  considered  of  himself 
— is  by  far  the  greatest  phenomenon,  which  the  universe  has  ever 
exhibited.  The  conception  of  just  such  a  being,  as  well  as  thc- 
mode  of  his  production,  is  altogether  superhuman.  The  relations 
of  such  a  being, — after  the  idea  of  him  was  obtained — to  God,  to 
man,  and  to  the  whole  universe — are  to  us  when  left  to  ourselves 
wholly  inscrutable.  After  these  relations  have  been  clearly 
established,  the  character  which  the  Scriptures  ascribe  to  this 
man-God  is  itself  utterly  above  all  that  human  intelligence 
could  suggest,  much  less  could  perfectly  develop,  and  least  of 
all  develop  through  protracted  centuries,  partly  by  prophecy, 
partly  by  personal  description, — multitudes  of  hands  in  successive 
ages,  and  of  all  possible  degrees  of  skill — working  upon  the  im- 


CHAP.  VII.]  THE    HISTORIC    CHKIST.  89 

mortal  delineation.  And  even  after  the  being,  its  relations,  and 
its  character  were  perfectly  established,  the  part  he  should  enact 
amongst  men,  the  work  he  should  accomplish  in  the  universe — 
the  power  he  should  exert  upon  things  in  heaven,  and  things  on 
earth,  and  things  under  the  earth,  and  the  effects  thereof,  in  time 
and  in  eternity  :  all  these  are  things  inconceivably  beyond  the 
utmost  reach  of  what  we  feel  ourselves,  and  perceive  all  others  to 
be  capable  of  unfolding.  Alas  !  how  feebly  do  we  realize  the 
living  force  of  these  great  mysteries  of  Godliness,  even  after  they 
have  been  divinely  made  known  to  us,  not  in  word  only,  but  in 
power  ;  and  how  do  our  weak  and  sinful  natures  come  short  of 
the  sublime  truths  they  convey,  even  after  we  have  received 
them  by  the  demonstration  of  the  Holy  Ghost. — The  idea  of 
Jesus  Christ — the  Son  of  God — and  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  as 
that  idea  is  developed  throughout  the  Scriptures, — while  it  re- 
plenishes them  with  a  divine  fulness,  incontestably  stamps  them 
as  the  product  of  a  Divine  Intelligence. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

IMMANUEL.— THE   MYSTERY  OF   THE   INCARNATION. 

I.  1.  God's  work  of  infinite  Mercy. — 2.  The  Composition  of  the  person  of  Christ  to  be 
considered. — 3.  The  controlling  influence  of  the  question. — 4.  Special  considera- 
tion of  it. — (a.)  The  "Word  made  Flesh  is  very  God,  and  the  only  Saviour  of  Sin- 
ners.— (b.)  The  "Word  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  has  become  incarnate. — (c.)  Thus 
God  and  Man  in  one  Person  for  ever. — (d.)  The  two  natures  eternally  united  in 
the  Person  of  Christ,  are  still  distinct  from  each  other. — (e.)  Christ  has  but  one 
Person,  to  wit  the  Person  of  the  Son  of  God. — (/.)  This  Immanuel  is  given  to  be 
the  Mediator  between  God  and  Man:  and  is  the  Messiah,  the  Christ. — (g.)  He  is 
the  only,  and  all-sufficient  Saviour. — (h.)  It  is  this  person  thus  constituted — con- 
templated as  a  whole,  and  not  by  parts,  who  works  out  our  salvation. — 5.  This 
whole  doctrine  is  a  transcendent  Revelation. — 6.  All  its  parts  unite  in  a  perfectly 
clear,  effectual  and  exclusive  system. — II.  Relevancy  of  these  grand  truths. — 1. 
The  effect  of  this  Union  of  the  two  natures  upon  both  of  them. — 2.  The  mode  and 
nature  of  this  Union. — 3.  The  nature  of  the  necessity  that  the  Mediator  must  be 
true  God. — 4.  In  like  manner  that  he  must  be  true  man. — 5.  In  like  manner,  that 
he  must  be  God-man. — 6.  In  all  this,  the  infinite  certainty  of  man's  salvation,  and 
the  complete  manifestation  of  God's  nature  and  glory. — T.  The  unspeakable  Won- 
derfulness  of  the  person  of  Immanuel. — 8.  And  of  the  mode  in  which  each  nature 
enables  the  other. — 9.  The  Incarnation  is  the  most  absolute  manifestation  of  God, 
and  the  Supreme  exaltation  of  human  nature. 

I. — 1.  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom  I 
am  chief.1  These  words  of  Paul — like  multitudes  of  similar 
statements,  in  every  part  of  the  oracles  of  G-od — develop  the 
nature  of  God's  work  of  infinite  mercy  towards  fallen  man,  with 
a  fulness  and  distinctness,  and  yet  with  a  compactness  and 
richness,  of  which  human  language  seems  incapable,  except 
when  it  is  made  the  vehicle  of  divine  inspiration.  First,  we 
have  the  grand  foundation  for  the  whole  scheme  of  redemption, — 
our  sinfulness  :  then,  God's  purpose  to  save  us  :  then  the  neces- 
sity of  accomplishing  that  purpose,  by  some  means  which  this 
world  does   not  furnish  :   then,  the  means — Christ  Jesus — the 

«  1  Tim.,  i.  15. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  I  M  MANUEL.  91 

very  names  given  to  him  expressing  at  once  the  nature  of  his 
person  and  his  work  :  then,  the  perfect  faithfulness  of  God  in  all 
his  gracious  dealings  with  us,  and  all  his  statements  to  us  thereof : 
then,  the  worthiness  of  God's  offers  and  God's  teachings,  of  the 
universal  and  unqualified  acceptation  of  every  human  being  :  and 
finally,  the  estimate  we  should  form  of  ourselves,  and  the  mode 
in  which  that  should  affect  us,  as  we  survey  the  wonderful  provi- 
sions of  God's  mercy,  and  their  effects  upon  us  !  It  is  impossible 
to  contemplate  such  powers  of  thought  and  expression,  directed 
to  the  development  of  inscrutable  mysteries  with  the  precision 
of  perfect  knowledge,  without  feeling  our  conviction  of  the  divine 
reality  of  these  mysteries  continually  strengthened. 

2.  Christ  Jesus,  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners.1  Of  the  six  propositions  contained  in  the  general 
statement  of  the  Apostle,  just  explained,  the  two  which  are 
embraced  in  this  short  portion  of  it,  express  in  the  briefest  and 
clearest  manner,  first,  the  nature  of  Christ's  person,  and  secondly, 
the  nature  of  his  work  It  is  to  the  former  of  these,  the  person 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
that  our  attention  is  now  immediately  directed. 

3.  No  article  of  the  Christian  faith  is  more  fundamental  than 
this,  and  not  one  has  been  more  carefully  cherished  by  the 
church  of  God  throughout  all  generations.  Upon  the  supposition 
of  any  interposition  by  God  for  the  deliverance  of  man,  the  result 
of  the  work  must  depend,  absolutely,  both  for  its  certainty  and 
its  character,  upon  the  nature  of  the  instrumentality  used  to  ac- 
complish it  :  and  since  the  mode  of  God's  interposition  is  by  the 
sending  of  Christ  Jesus  into  the  world,  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ, 
immediately  becomes  the  pivot  on  which  the  whole  scheme  must 
turn.  And  upon  the  further  supposition,  that  this  interposition 
of  God,  by  means  of  Christ  Jesus  sent  into  the  world,  is  in  the 
way  of  a  Mediator  between  himself  and  fallen  man,  then,  again, 
the  person  of  this  Mediator  becomes  still  more  obviously  the 
key  to  all  our  knowledge  of  God's  dealings  with  us  as  sinners, 
and  the  means  of  all  our  access  to  God.  In  divine  truth,  as  in 
all  other  truth,  there  is  such  an  intimate  concatenation  of  the 
parts  with  each  other,  and  such  a  dependence  of  every  part  upon 
the  fundamental  thesis,  that  the  slightest  error  touching  that 
must  needs  be  pernicious,  and  may  be  fatal.     Since  then,  the 

1  1  Tim.,  i.  15. 


92  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IL 

person  of  Christ  is  that  rock  whereon  the  church  is  built,1  and 
the  foundation  of  all  the  mysteries  of  God's  will  concerning  man's 
deliverance,2  and,  in  a  manner,  the  repository  of  every  revealed 
truth,3  we  must  needs  know  him,  if  we  would  obtain  that  eter- 
nal life  which  God  bestows  upon  man,  no  otherwise  than  through 
him,  and  which  consists  indeed,  in  the  true  knowledge  of  him, 
and  of  God  by  him.  For  the  Saviour  himself  has  said — address- 
ing himself  directly  to  the  Father,  and  speaking  of  himself — Thou 
hast  given  him  power  over  all  flesh,  that  he  should  give  eternal 
life  to  as  many  as  thou  hast  given  him.  And  this  is  eternal  life, 
that  they  might  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ 
wdiom  thou  has  sent.4 

4.  Of  the  coming  of  Christ  into  this  world,  and  of  his  life, 
death,  resurrection  and  ascension  into  heaven,  and  second  coming, 
I  have  spoken  generally  in  the  preceding  chapter.  Something 
has  also  been  said  in  a  general  manner  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Gos- 
jjel  involved  in  each  of  those  aspects  of  the  person  and  work  of 
Christ,  as  Immanuel,  that  is,  God  with  us.  Entering  now  more 
carefully  into  what  relates  to  the  person  of  Christ,  we  gather 
from  the  word  of  God  the  doctrine  which  follows  in  a  series  of 
dependent  statements. 

(a)  The  Word  which  was  made  flesh,  a  phrase  by  which  the 
Apostle  John  designates  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  he  explains  to 
us  himself,  existed  from  eternity,  existed  eternally  in  a  form  of 
in-being  with  God,  and  was  himself  eternally  God.  So  existing, 
he  was  the  real  and  only  Creator  of  all  things,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  the  same  Apostle,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  claim, 
even  when  in  the  flesh,  not  only  equality,  but  oneness  with  the 
Father.5  That  this  divine  word  made  flesh,  was  the  only  Saviour 
of  men,  is  the  very  burden  of  the  whole  Gospel  of  this  Apostle, 
who  tells  us  himself  that  he  wrote  it  in  order  that  men  might 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  that  be- 
lieving they  might  have  life  through  his  name.0  To  the  same 
purport  on  both  sides,  is  the  testimony  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  who 
tells  us  that  Christ  Jesus  was  in  the  form  of  God,  and  thought  it 
no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God  :  but  made  himself  of  no  repu- 
tation, and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made 
in  the  likeness  of  man  ;    and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man 

1  Matth.,  xvi.  1G.  2  Eph.,  i.  9,  10.  s  2  Cor.,  iv.  6. 

4  John,  xvii.  2,  3.  5  John,  i.  1-14  and  x.  30.  s  John,  xx.  31. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  I M  MANUEL.  93 

humbled  himself,  and   became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the 
death  of  the  cross.1 

(b)  When  the  fulness  of  time  was  come,  God  sent  forth  his 
Sou,  made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law,  to  redeem  them  that 
were  under  the  law,  that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons. 
And  because  we  are  sons,  God  hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his 
Son  in  our  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father.2  This  was  that  divine 
and  eternal  Word,  now  made  flesh  ;  and  he  dwelt  among  men, 
and  men  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only-begotten  of  the 
Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth.3 

(c)  In  this  manner,  the  Lord  Jesus  was  both  God  and  man; 
he  was  truly  God-man.  As  concerning  the  flesh,  an  Israelite, 
but  still,  over  all  God  blessed  forever,  Amen.4  And  this  union 
of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  the  person  of  Christ  Jesus, 
survived  death  and  the  resurrection,  and  will  continue  through 
eternity.  For  being  raised  from  the  dead  by  the  mighty  power 
of  God,  he  is  set  at  his  own  right  hand  in  heaven,  far  above  all 
principalities,  and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every 
name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that 
which  is  to  come  ;  and  God  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet, 
and  hath  given  him  to  be  the  head  over  all  things  to  the  Church, 
which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  nlleth  all,  in  all.6 

(d)  While  the  two  natures  of  the  Lord  Christ,  the  divine 
and  human,  are  thus  indissolubly  united  in  his  person,  and  will 
continue  so  united  forever  ;  at  the  same  time  these  two  natures 
are,  and  will  forever  be,  distinct  in  him.  The  Evangelist  Luke 
has  recorded  with  great  particularity,  the  interview  between  the 
angel  Gabriel  and  the  Virgin  Mary,  in  which  he  announced  to 
her  that  the  Holy  Ghost  should  come  upon  her,  and  the  power  of 
the  Highest  overshadow  her,  and  that  she  should  conceive  in  a 
superhuman  manner,  and  bring  forth  a  son  whom  she  should  call 
Jesus,  and  who  should  be  the  Son  of  the  Highest,  to  whom  the 
Lord  God  would  give  the  throne  of  his  Father  David,  whose 
reign  over  the  house  of  Jacob  should  be  eternal,  and  of  whose 
kingdom  there  should  be  no  end.0  And  immediately  following 
this  narrative,  the  same  Evangelist  gives  us  an  account  of  the 
remarkable  interview  betweeen  the  Mother  of  Jesus  and  her  kins- 
woman, the  mother  of  John  the  Baptist,  before  the  birth  either 

1  Phil.,  ii.  6-S.  a  Gal.,  iv.  4-6.  a  John,  L  14. 

*  Rom.,  ix.  5.  s  Eph.,  i.  20-23.  6  Luke,  i.  26-38 


94  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD,  [BOOK  II. 

of  Jesus  or  John  ;  in  which,  being  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  as 
they  spoke  with  each  other,  the  general  facts  already  given  are 
set  forth  in  another  form.1  Now  it  is  in  him  that  all  the  fulness 
of  the  Godhead  dwelleth  bodily.2  It  is  in  this  manner,  and 
it  is  with  relation  to  the  person  of  Christ,  that  God  was  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  Spirit,  seen  of  angels,  preached 
unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the  world,  and  received  up  into 
glory.3  And  it  is  still  of  Jesus  Christ,  God-man,  and  so  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,  the  ruler  of  the  universe,  the  final  judge  of 
men,  the  true  God  and  everlasting  life,  that  the  Scriptures  bear 
such  continual  and  such  explicit  testimony. 

(e)  These  two  natures,  the  divine  and  the  human,  thus  indis- 
solubly  united  in  Christ,  subsist  in  such  a  manner  that  there  are 
not  two  persons,  but  only  one  person  of  the  two  natures,  namely, 
the  person  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  second  person  of  the  adorable 
Trinity.  For,  saith  Isaiah  to  the  house  of  David,  Behold  the 
Lord  himself  will  give  you  a  sign  :  a  virgin  shall  conceive,  and 
bear  a  Son,  and  shall  call  his  name  Immanuel.4  His  very  name, 
as  well  as  the  whole  declaratian  of  Isaiah,  according  to  the  com- 
ment of  Matthew,  importing  the  oneness  of  his  person  as  well  as 
the  union  of  both  natures  in  it  ;  for  Immanuel,  being  inter- 
preted, is,  God  with  us  ;  it  is  one  person,  who  is  God-man  :  all 
of  which,  moreover,  the  Apostle  in  the  same  passage  makes  per- 
fectly clear  in  his  own  inspired  statement,  of  the  nativity  of  Jesus 
Christ.5  And  the  various  and  explicit  statements  of  all  the  New 
Testament  writers,  do  not  contain  any  new  doctrine  ;  but  only 
identify  the  individual,  in  whom  the  promises  of  God  and  the 
predictions  of  his  Prophets  in  all  ages,  had  found  their  accom- 
plishment ;  when,  at  last,  the  child  is  born,  the  Son  is  given, 
upon  whose  shoulders  the  government  should  be,  and  whose  name 
should  be  called  Wonderful,  Councillor,  the  Mighty  God,  the 
everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace.6 

(/)  The  Word  of  God  made  flesh, — Immanuel — the  God- 
man,  with  a  person  thus  constituted,  was  given  to  be  the  Mediator 
between  God  and  man.  As  to  the  origin  of  this  gift  of  Christ  to 
man  as  a  Mediator  with  God,  it  is  in  the  Decree  of  God,  from  all 
eternity.  For  the  blessed  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  hath  chosen  us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 

1  Luke,  i.  39-56.  '-1  Col.,  ii.  9.  3  1  Tim.,  iii.  16. 

4  Isaiah,  vii.  13,  14.  s  Matth.,  i.  18-25.  c  Isaiah,  ix.  6,  7. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  IMMANUEL.  95 

having  predestinated  us  to  the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus 
Christ  to  himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will,  to 
the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  wherein  he  hath  made  us 
accepted  in  the  beloved.1  As  to  the  efficiency  thereof,  it  is  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world.  From  the  first  word  of  promise, 
which  indeed  was  uttered  in  the  form  of  a  threat  to  the  great 
seducer  of  man,  that  the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  the  head 
of  the  serpent,2  to  the  very  last  earnest  call  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
Bride,  that  men  should  come  and  take  freely  of  the  water  of 
life  ;3  the  whole  word  of  God,  and  the  whole  of  the  forty-one  cen- 
turies which  it  covers,  intimate  no  name  whereby  any  sinner  can 
be  saved,  but  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth  ;4  while  the 
whole  word  has  taught  always,  and  under  every  dispensation  ; 
and  the  whole  of  human  experience  confirms  its  teaching,  that 
he  is,  and  always  was,  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  all  that  do, 
or  ever  did,  or  ever  will,  come  to  G-od  by  him.5  As  to  the 
manifestation  of  this  Mediator  in  the  flesh,— that  was,  when  the 
fulness  of  the  time  was  come,  according  to  the  eternal  counsel 
of  God,  that  he  should  set  forth  his  Son,  made  of  woman,  made 
under  the  law,  to  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law;6  when 
the  due  time  had  arrived,  according  to  the  judgment  of  the  eter- 
nal Son  of  God,  for  him  to  give  himself  a  ransom  for  all.7  He 
who  was  thus  given  in  the  Decree  of  God,  from  all  eternity,  in 
his  divine  efficiency  to  save  sinners  from  the  beginning  of  time, — 
and  in  his  perfect  manifestation  to  all  men,  from  his  Incarnation  ; 
was  no  other  than  the  Messiah,  whom  the  Prophets  had  so  long 
foretold,8  manifested  in  the  flesh  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth.9  The 
Scriptures  set  forth  his  life,  his  death,  his  resurrection  and  his 
ascension  to  heaven  ;  his  glorious  gospel,  according  to  his  com- 
mand, has  been  preached  to  men,  through  eighteen  centuries  ; 
the  church  purchased  with  his  blood,  still  abides  in  strength, 
under  that  form  which  his  Apostles  gave  to  it,  by  his  own 
authority  and  through  his  own  Spirit  ;  and  his  followers  confi- 
dently and  unanimously  expect  his  own  return  in  transcendent 
power  and  glory. 

(rj)  This  divine  person,  Immanuel,  the  Son  of  God  and  the 
Son  of  man,  the  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  is  the  only,  as 

1  Eph.,  i.  3-G.  s  Gen.,  iii.  14,  15.  3  Rev.,  xxii.  17. 

<  Acts,  iv.  12.  5  Heb.,  vii.  25.  6  Gal.,  iv.  4,  5. 

*  1  Tim.,  ii.  6.  »  John,  i.  45  and  viii.  56.        »  Luke,  ii.  1-14. 


96  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II, 

he  is  the  all-sufficient  Saviour  of  the  world.  For  there  is  one  God 
and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus, 
who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all.1  It  is  precisely  because  he  is 
both  God  and  Man,  that  he  is  qualified  to  be  the  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  man  ;  and  his  very  names,  all  of  them,  imply 
both  the  nature  of  his  person,  and  the  nature  of  his  work. 

(h)  All  the  office  work  of  this  Mediator,  looking  to  the  salva- 
tion of  man,  or  having  any  bearing  thereon,  is  not  to  be  consi- 
dered as  the  special  work  of  one  nature  or  the  other  nature 
indissolubly  united  in  his  person  ;  but  is  to  be  considered  as  the 
work  of  the  person  thus  formed  of  these  two  natures,  that  is,  the 
work  of  him  who  is  God-man,  the  work  of  Immanuel,  the  work 
of  the  Mediator.  We  are  not  to  divide  our  Saviour,  for  his  fit- 
ness to  be  our  Saviour  lies  precisely  in  this,  that  the  two  natures 
are  hypostatically  united  in  him.  There  are  innumerable  state- 
ments of  the  word  of  God,  which  place  this  whole  subject  in  the 
clearest  light ;  and  there  is  not  a  single  utterance  of  the  Saviour 
himself  either  during  his  ministry,  or  after  his  resurrection,  that 
can  be  made  to  signify  a  purpose  on  his  part  to  divide  his  two 
natures,  even  in  contemplation,  in  anything  that  related  to  his 
Mediatorial  work.  As  if  to  guard  us  against  this  very  error,  the 
writers  of  all  four  of  the  Gospels,  seem  intentionally  to  designate 
the  Lord  merely  by  his  name  Jesus,  when  they  speak  of  him  after 
his  resurrection,  and  therefore  when  we  would  be  most  liable  to 
lose  sight  of  his  human  nature.  Even  when  they  record  his  last 
commission  to  them,  investing  them  with  powers  and  imposing 
upon  them  duties,  commensurate  with  the  whole  world,  and 
making  to  them  declarations  and  promises,  which  involve  in  their 
very  nature,  his  absolute  Godhead  ;  it  is  still  Jesus  who  thus 
commissions  and  instructs  them.  It  is  Jesus  who  claims  omnipo- 
tence and  says  to  them,  all  power  is  given  unto  me,  in  heaven 
and  in  earth  ;  who  commands  them  to  teach  all  nations  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  he  had  commanded  them,  and  to 
baptize  them  in  his  name,  as  the  Son,  along  with  the  names 
of  the  Father,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  who  appropriating  the  most 
unsearchable  attributes  of  God,  promised  to  be  with  all  of  them, 
always,  and  everywhere.2 

5.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  anything  that  can  lie  more 
entirely  out  of  the  reach  of  our  knowledge,  when  left  to  our- 

1  1  Tim.,  ii.  5.  6.  a  Matt.,  xxviii.  18-20. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  IMMANUEL.  97 

selves,  than  every  part  of  this  subject  does.  The  whole  of  it 
claims  to  he,  and  must  necessarily  be,  divinely  revealed  to  us. 
God  abundantly  declares,  throughout  his  word,  not  only  that  it 
is  a  most  clear  and  certain  revelation,  but  that  it  is  the  revelation 
of  the  most  glorious  of  all  his  works,  and  of  the  very  highest 
counsels  of  his  eternal  will  :  a  revelation  by  means  of  which  the 
whole  perfections  of  his  infinite  being,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for 
us  to  comprehend  them,  will  be  made  known.  That  the  whole 
subject  is  full  of  mystery,  not  only  need  not  be  disguised,  but 
must  therein  exhibit  one  of  the  surest  marks  of  its  heavenly 
origin  and  devolopment,  its  eternal  verity  and  efficacy. 

0.  If,  however,  we  will  accept  this  revelation  as  indeed  God's 
message  of  infinite  love  to  us,  and  sit  down  at  the  feet  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  learn  its  mighty  import,  and  to  become  imbued  with 
its  divine  efficacy  ;  we  shall  soon  perceive  that  the  mysterious 
facts  revealed  in  it  form  a  simple,  comprehensive  and  most  won- 
derful system  of  connected  and  dependent  truths,  all  looking  to 
the  one  grand  result.  We  shall  see  that  as  far  as  we  can  com- 
prehend, they  perfectly  explain,  in  themselves,  their  own  nature 
and  necessity,  as  well  as  their  absolute  relevancy  and  sufficiency 
to  the  end  they  are  set  forth  to  produce.  We  shall  understand 
clearly  at  the  same  time,  the  utter  impossibility  of  attaining  that 
glorious  end,  upon  any  other  supposition  but  that  of  their  abso- 
lute truth,  or  in  any  other  manner,  except  that  exhibited  through 
them.  Man  can  be  saved  in  this  manner.  He  cannot  be  saved 
in  any  other,  known  to  us,  or  conceivable  by  us. 

II.  Having,  therefore,  established  the  grand  truths  themselves, 
which  relate  to  the  mystery  of  Christ's  Incarnation,  and  stated 
them  one  by  one  in  their  natural  order,  let  us  now  endeavor  to 
explain  their  relevancy  to  each  other,  to  the  great  object  had  in 
view,  and  to  God  and  to  our  own  destiny. 

1.  According  to  the  Scriptures,  the  divine  existence  is  as  to 
its  essence,  absolutely  one  ;  but  as  to  the  mode  in  which  that 
essence  exists,  it  is  a  three-fold  personality  ;  all  of  which  will  be 
more  fully  explained,  when  I  come  to  treat  expressly  of  the 
Trinity.  The  Second  Person  of  this  adorable  Trinity,  is  he  who 
became  incarnate,  as  heretofore  explained.  Now  this  incarna- 
tion, consisting  in  the  assumption  of  the  nature  of  man  into 
union  with  the  divine  nature,  had  this  result,  immediately,  that 
the  separate  existence,  the  person,  so  to  speak,  of  the  Man  Jesus, 

7 


98  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

was  swallowed  up  in  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  the 
effect  was,  not  a  new  being  with  two  natures  and  twro  persons, 
but  another  nature  only,  to  wit,  that  of  man  united  with  the 
divine  nature,  in  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  a  hypostat- 
ical, — that  is,  a  personal  union.  The  effect  produced  on  the  part 
of  God  is,  not  that  a  new  person  is  added  to  the  adorable  Trinity, 
but  that  a  new  nature,  to  wit,  human  nature  is  assumed  into 
union — to  wit,  personal  union,  with  the  divine  nature,  in  the 
person  of  the  Second  Person  of  the  Trinity.  And  the  effect  pro- 
duced on  the  part  of  man  is,  not  that  human  nature  has  become 
divine,  nor  that  human  personality  has  ceased,  as  to  the  race  ; 
but  that  human  nature  has  been  assumed  into  personal  union 
with  the  Godhead — in  the  person  of  the  man  Jesus.  What  the 
results  are  which  flow  hence,  on  both  sides,  belong  to  another 
part  of  the  general  subject,  and  will  be  considered  hereafter. 

2.  Christ,  therefore,  the  Son  of  God,  became  man,  not  by  in- 
fusing the  divine  nature  into  the  human  nature,  nor  by  mixing 
the  two  natures  together,  nor  by  ceasing  to  be  divine  himself,  nor 
by  making  man  divine  ;  but  by  assuming  to  himself  a  true  human 
body,  and  a  true  human  soul,  and  thus  taking  human  nature 
into  personal  union  with  the  divine  nature  :  the  two  natures 
being  kept  perfectly  distinct,  but  being  eternally  united,  hypo- 
statically,  that  is  personally,  in  the  person  of  the  divine  Word. 
This  union  was  effected  and  the  Christ  of  God  was  constituted, 
by  a  divine  and  superhuman  conception,  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  in  the  womb  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and,  as  to  the 
human  nature  of  Christ,  out  of  the  substance  of  her  body.  By 
this  superhuman  generation,  Christ  became  a  true  man,  yet  free 
from  the  pollution  of  original  sin,  and  the  curse  and  penalty  of 
the  Covenant  of  Works  ;  and  by  being  made  and  born  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  of  the  lineage  of  David,  and  Judah  and  Abraham, 
— all  the  promises  and  prophecies,  touching  that  part  of  the 
matter  which  related  especially  to  the  Jewish  people,  had  their 
accomplishment.  And  as  being  true  God  and  sinless  man,  we 
have  the  key  which  unlocks  all  that  is  otherwise  inexplicable  in 
his  personal  history,  his  doctrine  and  his  work  :  and  get  down  to 
the  very  foundation  of  his  ability  to  save  sinners,  so  as  that  God 
might  be  just  while  he  justified  them. 

3.  We  can  see,  as  soon  as  God  has  opened  the  subject  to  us, 
that  it  was  altogether  indispensable  for  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  to 


CHAP.  VIII.]  IMMANUEL.  99 

be  true  and  very  God  ;  and,  when  it  is  further  made  known  to 
us,  that  their  salvation  necessarily  involves  just  what  Christ,  as 
the  Redeemer,  performed,  the  "  needs  be"  of  that  condition  be- 
comes overwhelming.  An  infinitely  meritorious  obedience,  and 
an  infinitely  meritorious  sacrifice  are  both  absurd,  unless  predi- 
cated of  an  infinite  being  :  so  that  the  divine  dignity  and  worth 
of  the  person  of  Christ,  lie  at  the  root  of  the  necessity  which  re- 
quired the  Saviour  to  be  made  under  the  law  ;  and  that  neces- 
sity is  absolutely  paramount,  in  every  view  we  can  take  of  the 
nature  and  dominion  of  God.  To  overcome  death,  hell  and  eter- 
nal wo  ;  to  rescue  us  from  enemies  so  numerous,  so  insatiable 
and  so  much  more  powerful  than  ourselves  ;  our  Redeemer  must 
be  divine.  To  give  divine  efficacy  to  his  own  work  of  obedience, 
of  sacrifice,  of  instruction  and  of  dominion  over  us  ;  to  purchase 
and  to  pour  out  upon  us,  the  Spirit  of  all  life,  all  truth  and  all 
holiness,  and  thereby — in  the  renewing  of  our  souls  and  the  seal- 
ing of  all  blessings  unto  them — fit  us  for  the  eternal  service  and 
enjoyment  of  God  ;  our  Redeemer  must  be  very  God,  of  very  God. 
And  so  of  all  his  work.  It  is  to  be  observed  carefully,  that  it  is 
the  Second  Person  of  the  Trinity,  the  Son,  the  Word,  and  neither 
the  Father  nor  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  assumed  our  nature  ;  so  that 
obviously,  we  sustain,  and  must  eternally  sustain  relations  to 
him  most  intimate  and  most  distinct  from  those  we  sustain  to 
the  other  persons  of  the  Godhead.  It  is  he  who  stood  in  the 
middle  personality  of  the  Godhead,  that  is  to  stand  in  the  midst 
between  us  and  God  :  he  who,  by  eternal  generation,  was  the 
Son  of  God,  who  is  set  forth  to  bring  many  sons  and  daughters 
to  glory  :  he,  from  -whom,  with  the  Father,  the  Spirit  eternally 
proceeds,  who  is  to  open  a  way  for  the  outpouring  of  that  Spirit 
on  all  flesh  :  he  who  created  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power, 
who  will  re-create  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  grace.1 

4.  In  the  same  manner,  it  becomes  obvious  to  us  why  the 
Mediator  should  be  man.  Not  sinful  man,  for  then  every  part 
of  his  work  of  redemption  becomes  at  once  impossible  ;  and 
herein  we  apprehend  the  reason  of  those  careful  and  repeated 
explanations  of  the  miraculous  conception  of  Christ's  human 
body,  and  the  still  deeper  necessity  of  the  method  adopted  by 
infinite  wisdom,  that  the  man  Jesus  though  descended  from 
Adam,  should   not,  by  a  descent  through  ordinary  generation, 

'  Eph.,  i.  10. 


100  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

incur  the  curse  and  penalty  of  the  broken  Covenant  of  Works, 
and  so  inherit  a  polluted  nature.  He  must  be  true  man  with  a 
living  body  and  a  rational  soul,  but  with  human  nature  unpol- 
luted by  the  Fall ;  and  so  he  was.  And  then,  the  divine  Media- 
tor can  advance  human  nature,  far  beyond  its  original  condition  ; 
and  then  he  can  obey  the  law  of  God,  and  satisfy  all  the  claims 
of  that  perfect  rule  of  human  duty,  and  surfer  in  our  stead,  its 
fearful  curse  and  penalty  ;  he  can,  in  our  nature,  be  touched 
with  a  sense  of  all  our  infirmities,  and  intercede  for  us  therein, 
continually  at  the  throne  of  God  ;  through  him,  as  our  elder 
brother,  we  can  now  receive  the  adoption  of  Sons  of  God,  have 
access  with  boldness  to  the  throne  of  the  infinite  Majesty,  and 
become  joint-heirs  with  him,  the  heirs  of  God  to  an  inheritance 
incorruptible  and  underiled,  that  fadeth  not  away,  but  is  reserved 
in  heaven  for  such  as  are  kept  by  the  mighty  power  of  God 
through  faith  unto  salvation.1 

5.  Nor  is  it  less  apparent  why  the  Mediator  should  be  both 
God  and  man,  than  why  he  should  be  either  one  or  the  other  ; 
that  is,  why  these  two  natures  should  not  only  be  possessed  by 
him,  but  should  be  personally  united  in  him  ;  and  as  the  Media- 
torial work  is  for  eternity,  and  the  relations  created  by  its  per- 
formance, are  eternal,  why  this  hypostatical  union  in  Christ, 
should  also  be  eternal.  His  very  fitness  to  be  the  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  man,  depends  upon  this.  The  glory  of  God  and 
the  good  of  his  whole  universe  throughout  eternity,  were  in- 
volved in  all  the  acts,  and  most  especially  in  the  final  award  of 
a  Mediator  appointed  by  himself  and  acting  in  his  behalf ;  while 
every  hope  of  man  founded  upon  the  conduct  or  decisions  of  a 
Mediator  between  him  and  God,  must  necessarily  depend  upon 
the  nature,  character  and  fitness  of  him  in  whose  hands  his  case 
was  lodged.  The  actual  Mediator,  not  only  possessed  the  very 
nature  of  both  the  parties  between  whom  he  was  to  arbitrate  ; 
but  both  of  those  natures  were  indissolubly  united  in  his  person. 
He  Mediated  between  his  Father  on  one  side,  and  his  brethren 
on  the  other.  Not  the  highest  angel  before  God's  throne,  wras 
worthy  or  was  fit  to  have  the  glory  of  God  and  the  fate  of  the 
universe  thus  committed  to  him  ;  and  it  had  been  a  mere  mock- 
ery of  man,  to  commit  such  a  case  as  his,  for  arbitration,  to  the 
mightiest  and  purest  creature  who  found  his  whole  blessedness 

1  1  fetor,  i.  1-9. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  IMMANUEL,  101 

in  obedience  to  God,  and  who  could  not  endure  so  much  as  the 
bare  recital  of  man's  sins,  without  throwing  up  his  case  with  hor- 
ror. As  the  case  actually  stood,  the  divine  Mediator  could  not 
but  decide  everything  for  God,  and  everything  against  man. 
But  at  this  very  point,  when  nothing  but  despair  awaited  us — 
the  very  nature  of  the  Mediator  saved  us.  He  decided  openly 
for  his  righteous  Father  ;  but  instead  of  casting  off  Ins  polluted 
brethren — he  bowed  his  own  head  to  the  stroke  their  guilt  had 
merited,  and  received  into  his  own  bosom  the  just  punishment  of 
their  Bins.  He  washed  them  in  his  blood,  and  presented  them 
faultless,  before  God.  All  that  is  involved  in  all  that  Christ  does 
for  our  souls  in  this  life  ;  all  that  is  involved  in  whatever  secures 
to  us  a  better  life  to  come  ;  all  that  is  involved  in  our  fitness 
and  our  title  to  take  part  in  the  eternal  reign  of  Christ  and  the 
saints  in  glory;  connects  itself,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  some  part 
or  other  of  the  plan  of  salvation,  with  the  person  of  Christ,  and 
therefore  depends  upon  the  manner  in  which  his  person  is  con- 
stituted. 

6.  The  Mediator  is  called  Jesus,  because  he  saves  his  people 
from  their  sins.1  He  is  the  Christ  of  God,  replenished  without 
measure  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  possessing  by  his  nature,  by 
covenant  and  by  unction,  all  ability,  all  authority  and  all  fitness, 
as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  And  thus  as 
Mediator  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  he  executes  the  offices  of  a 
Prophet,  of  a  Priest  and  of  a  King,  both  in  his  estate  of  humili- 
ation and  his  estate  of  exaltation.  From  one  end  to  the  other, 
it  is  all  an  unsearchable  mystery  of  godliness,  revealed  to  us 
from  heaven  ;  and  if  any  particular  part  of  it  can  be  said  to  be 
more  wondrous  than  the  rest,  and  to  enter  most  pervadingly  of  all 
into  the  whole  matter  of  salvation,  it  is  perhaps  this  very  union 
of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  the  person  of  Immanuel : 
for  except  upon  the  supposition  of  the  supreme  Godhead  and  the 
vicarious  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  cannot  see  that  the  ruin 
of  man  is  less  irremediable  than  that  of  devils.  If  we  may  enter 
a  little  further  into  the  particulars  of  a  matter  so  far  above  our 
natural  knowledge,  and  yet  so  fruitful  and  so  precious  ;  we  may 
observe,  that  as  touching  this  hypostatical  union  of  the  two  na- 
tures, in  Immanuel,  as  relates  to  its  original  efficiency,  it  was 
the  act  of  the  Divine  Nature  ;  that  its  authoritative  designation 

1  Matt,  i,  21. 


102  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

was  the  act  of  the  Father  ;  that  the  formation  of  the  human 
nature,  was  the  act  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  that  the  assumption 
of  flesh  was  the  act  of  the  Son  ;  and  the  Covenant  of  Grace 
of  which  the  whole  is  an  outbirth,  was  the  act  of  the  Father, 
and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  thus,  the  divine  nature, 
and  all  the  persons  of  the  Godhead,  severally  and  unitedly,  con- 
cur therein,  and  are  glorified  thereby. 

7.  In  the  whole  universe  there  is  no  union  like  unto  this  per- 
sonal union  of  the  divine  and  human  natures,  in  Immanuel. 
There  are,  indeed,  examples  wherein  the  general  principle  of  the 
most  intimate  union  of  natures,  or  persons,  or  existences,  is 
shown  in  the  most  remarkable  manner  to  be  one  of  the  deepest 
and  most  fruitful  of  all  the  principles  that  pervade  the  universe  : 
the  most  remarkable  of  which  are  the  union  of  the  three  persons 
of  the  Trinity  in  the  substance  of  the  Godhead ;  the  mystical 
union  of  believers  with  Christ ;  the  natural  union  of  the  soul 
and  the  body  in  man  ;  and  I  may  add  the  typical  union  of 
man  and  wife,  whereby  God  illustrates  the  union  of  Christ  with 
his  Church.  But  all  of  these  differing  widely  from  each  other, 
differ  not  less  widely  from  the  personal  union  of  two  natures  in 
the  God-man.  In  the  Trinity  it  is  the  unity  of  three  persons, 
in  one  nature :  in  Christ,  it  is  the  unity  of  two  natures  in  one 
person.  The  union  between  Christ  and  the  believer  is  mystical, 
and  therein  neither  is  the  human  person  or  nature  of  the  believer 
swallowed  up  ;  but  in  Christ,  the  human  personality  is  swallowed 
up,  and  the  human  nature  is  indissolubly  united  with  the  divine. 
The  union  of  the  soul  and  body  in  man,  makes  of  both  a  single 
personality  and  a  single  nature,  and  is  itself  natural  ;  but  the 
union  in  Christ  is  wholly  supernatural,  wherein  the  personality 
of  man  is  lost,  while  his  nature  is  preserved,  and  united  both 
with  another  nature  and  another  personality.  And  though  the 
union  of  husband  and  wife  is  such  that  Christ  himself  declared 
that  they  were  no  more  twain  but  one  flesh,  and  so  what  was 
literally  true  of  the  first  pair  is  mystically  true  of  all  others,1 — a 
great  mystery,  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  but  yet  real  and  analagous 
to  the  union  between  Christ  and  the  Church,2  still  it  is  a  union 
which,  so  far  from  uniting  two  natures  in  one,  relates  only  to  two 
persons  of  the  same  nature,  and  so  far  from  swallowing  up  either 
personality,  places  both  of  them  in  a  new  relation,  out  of  which 

i  Matt.,  xix.  5,  6.  s  Eph.,  v.  27-33. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  IMMANUEL.  103 

arise  innumerable  duties,  both  new  and  mutual.  There  is  no 
marvel  therefore,  that  in  contemplating  such  an  existence  as 
that  of  Immanuel,  the  prophet  should  begin  the  unparalleled 
list  of  names  by  which  he  distinguishes  him,  with  the  name 
Wonderful.1 

8.  And  finally,  we  must  bear  in  mind  the  intimate  and 
mutual  communication  with  each  other  which  these  two  distinct 
natures  united  in  the  person  of  Christ,  must  necessarily  have  by 
virtue  of  their  union  in  that  indissoluble  manner.  This  ineffable 
communication  takes  place  immediately  in  the  person  of  the  Son, 
in  which  they  are  united.  Moreover,  through  the  immeasurable 
fulness  of  the  Holy  Ghost  with  which  the  Son  is  replenished,  he 
fills  the  human  nature  united  with  his  nature,  with  all  fulness 
of  habitual  grace.  On  the  other  hand,  every  act  of  every  office 
of  the  Mediator,  whether  as  a  Prophet,  or  a  Priest,  or  a  King, 
finds  expression  in  his  estate  of  humiliation,  through  some  ser- 
vice, or  some  suffering,  peculiar  to  his  human  nature  ;  and  even 
in  his  state  of  exaltation,  the  same  use  and  service,  though  not 
necessarily  involved  in  every  expression  of  the  Godhead  of  the 
Son,  are  of  perpetual  recurrence  in  all  that  relates  immediately 
to  the  salvation  of  the  elect.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  the  divine 
nature  which  communicates  all  their  worth  and  dignity  to  all 
the  acts  of  the  Mediator,  which  find  expression  through  the 
human  nature  ;  which  acts,  however,  could  never  have  been  per- 
formed, but  for  the  human  nature.  God  has  but  one  nature, 
and  man  has  but  one  nature  ;  but  the  God-man  has  two  natures, 
both  of  which  are  equally  his  ;  and  both  constituting  a  single 
personality,  their  intercommunion  is  inconceivably  complete. 
And  though  both  natures  must  remain  distinct,  and  each  pre- 
serve its  own  essential  properties,  and  each  operate  according  to 
its  own  substance  ;  yet  there  is  but  one  being — even  Immanuel 
— constituted  by  both,  and  that  in  the  personality,  not  of  the 
man  Jesus,  but  of  the  Son  of  God.  So  that  we  arrive  at  the 
conclusion  reached  before,  by  another  process,  that  it  is  Christ, 
taken  wholly,  who  performs  every  work  on  which  our  salvation 
depends. 

9.  Such,  most  imperfectly  set  forth,  are  the  relevancy  and 
mutual  dependence  of  some  of  the  most  important  truths,  which 
are  involved  in  the  mystery  of  the  incarnation  and  result  from 

1  Isa.,  vii.  14    viii.  8:  ix.  6. 


104  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

the  manner  in  which  the  person  of  the  Messiah  is  constituted 
Since  the  creation  of  man,  the  most  stupendous  event  in  the  his- 
tory of  humanity,  is  its  assumption  into  union  with  the  divine 
nature.  The  manifestation  of  God  in  human  nature,  is  not  only 
the  most  absolute  manifestation  of  God  which  human  nature  can 
be  conceived  capable  of  understanding,  but  is  the  highest  exalta- 
tion of  human  nature  to  which  it  is  conceivable  that  human 
nature  can  attain.  As  we  advance  we  shall  see  more  and  more 
plainly  and  completely,  that  in  the  person  of  Christ,  his  whole 
work  hinges,  and  that  our  whole  destiny  depends  upon  that  work. 
Infinitely  glorious  in  all  that  he  is,  and  all  that  he  does,  the  Scrip- 
tures propose  him  to  us,  as  our  only  deliverer.  The  knowledge 
of  him  is  not  only  the  root,  but  is  the  sum  of  all  other  knowl- 
edge ;  and  our  state  can  in  no  way  be  so  truly  decided,  as  by 
determining  what  we  think  of  him.1 

4  Mat.,  xxii.  41-46. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  MEDIATOR  BETWEEN  GOD  AND  MAN. 

I  1.  The  ruin  of  man  irremediabie  of  itself. — 2.  The  unsearchable  nature  of  the  divine 
Interposition. — 3.  No  other  mode  of  salvation  conceivable  by  man,  or  possible  in 
itself — 4.  The  Mediator— considered  on  the  side  of  his  human  nature. — 5.  And 
on  the  side  of  his  divine  nature. — II.  1.  All  God's  dealings  with  men  committed 
to  this  Mediator. — 2.  Nature,  conditions,  objects,  difficulties  of  the  Mediation  by- 
Christ. — 3.  Summary  of  the  fundamental  and  controlling  elements  of  this  Way  of 
Life. — 4.  The  infinite  glory  of  the  Everlasting  Dispensation  of  the  Mediator. — 
(a.)  From  Eternity. — (5.)  Creation  of  Angels. — (c.)  Fall  of  the  Angels,  "War  in 
Heaven. — (d.)  Creation  of  the  Visible  Universe. — (e.)  Fall  of  Man,  Origin  of  New 
Creation. — (/.)  The  Incarnation. — (g.)  His  Resurrection. — (h.)  His  Ascension 
into  Heaven. — (?'.)  His  second  coming. — (/.)  His  delivery  of  the  Kingdom  to  the 
Father. — 5.  The  simplicity  of  Redemption  as  a  Way  of  Life:  its  boundless  sub- 
limity as  an  Object  of  Knowledge. 

1. — 1.  The  sin  of  man,  his  consequent  loss  of  the  favor  and 
image  of  God,  and  the  pollution  and  misery  into  which  he  was 
thereby  plunged  ;  all  united  make  up  for  him  an  estate,  as  we 
have  already  shown,  from  which  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  de- 
liver himself,  and  from  which,  in  consequence  of  the  depraved 
condition  of  his  nature,  he  was  not  willing  to  be  delivered  upon 
any  terms  that  would  be  at  once  effectual  and  compatible  with 
the  infinite  perfections  of  God.  It  is  a  condition  which  we  can 
not  too  emphatically  assert  to  be  irremediable  on  the  side  of 
man  ;  and  this  very  fact  adds  the  last  condition  to  its  fearful 
ruin.  There  was  no  eye  that  pitied  him  ;  there  was  no  arm  that 
could  save  him. 

2.  That  in  these  circumstances  God  should  have  been  prompted 
to  interpose  for  the  deliverance  of  man,  can,  as  has  been  fully 
shown,  be  accounted  for  only  upon  grounds  existing  absolutely 
in  his  own  nature.  They  could  have  no  respect  whatever  as 
to  their  efficient  or  meritorious  cause,  to  man  or  to  his  fate  ; 
but  in  regard  of  him,  they  must  have  been  on  the  part  of  God 
purely  sovereign  and  perfectly  gratuitous.     But  that  God  should 


106  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

so  love  the  world,  as  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whoso- 
ever would  believe  on  him — not  only  might  not  perish,  but  might 
have  everlasting  life,1  is  such  a  manifestation,  that  none  but  a 
demon  could  consider  it  any  thing  else  than  unsearchable  riches 
of  grace  :  while  that  he  should  propose,  by  the  salvation  of  such 
creatures,  from  such  an  estate,  by  such  means,  to  make  the  very 
highest  manifestation  of  his  own  perfections,  to  his  own  eternal 
glory,  is  such  an  illustration  of  the  nature  and  character  of  God, 
as  could  never  have  been  conceived  by  the  highest  created  intel- 
ligence. 

3.  It  is  not  the  part  of  such  creatures  as  we  are  to  determine 
with  positiveness,  what  the  infinite  and  adorable  God  might  do  : 
nor  to  pronounce  uj)on  the  mysteries  tbat  may  be  contained  in 
his  unfathomable  being,  whether  they  be  of  his  power,  his  wis- 
dom, his  knowledge,  his  righteousness,  or  his  love.  But  meekly 
and  earnestly  searching  into  all  that  we  can  know  of  him,  by 
every  means,  and  bowing  our  spirits  reverently  before  every  inti- 
mation that  he  is  pleased  to  give  us  of  himself ;  it  is  our  part  to 
believe  every  word  of  his  upon  which  he  allows  us  to  hope,  and 
to  accept  every  intimation  of  his  will  he  causes  to  be  communi- 
cated to  us,  whether  through  his  works,  his  providence,  his  Word, 
his  Spirit,  or  his  Son.  When,  therefore,  one  of  the  greatest,  as 
well  as  one  of  the  last  of  those  whom  he  has  inspired  that  he 
might  teach  us,  makes  it  the  express  ground  of  his  glorying  with 
the  saints  at  Eome,  in  the  gospel  of  Christ,  that  it  is  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believe th  ;  we  need  not 
hesitate  to  declare,  that  the  reason  he  adds  is  the  true  reason 
why  this  gospel  has  that  power  ;  namely,  because  therein  the 
righteousness  of  God  is  revealed  from  faith  to  faith.  Nor  need 
we  shrink  from  adding,  as  he  has  added,  that  except  by  means 
of  that  divine  righteousness,  and  that  living  faith,  and  that  Christ 
the  author  of  the  one  and  the  object  of  the  other,  there  was  no 
power  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  there  could  be  no  Gospel,  but 
only  the  wrath  of  God  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  ungodli- 
ness and  unrighteousness  of  men.5  And  when  we  hear  the  same 
inspired  teacher  assuring  the  church  at  Corinth  that  although 
the  Jews  required  a  sign,  and  the  Greeks  sought  after  wisdom, 
yet  he  had  nothing  to  preach  but  Christ  crucified  ;  who  though 
he  might  be  a  stumbling-block  to  the  Jews  and  foolishness  to  the 

1  John,  iii.  16.  2  Rom.,  L  16-18. 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE    MEDIATOR.  107 

Greeks  was,  nevertheless,  unto  them  which  are  called,  both  Jews 
and  Greeks,  Christ  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God  : 
we  may  confidenly  assert  with  him,  that  by  that  divine  power 
and  wisdom  through  a  preached  gospel,  revealing  the  Son  of  God 
crucified  for  us,  we  are  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is 
made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification  and 
redemption.  Nor  need  we  fear  to  add,  that  independently  of 
Christ  crucified  and  to  the  exclusion  of  him  there  is  no  power  of 
God,  and  no  wisdom  of  God,  whereby  sinful  men  may  be  called  ; 
whereby  they  can  obtain  either  divine  wisdom  or  righteousness  or 
sanctification  or  redemption,  or  whereby  they  can  be  saved.1 
Not  only  then,  may  it  be  confidently  asserted,  that  no  way  of  sal- 
vation is  actually  revealed  to  man,  except  that  which  is  held 
forth  by  the  cross  of  Christ ;  but  we  come  short  of  uttering  the 
full  mind  of  God  as  revealed  to  man  if  we  fail  to  add,  that  the 
salvation  of  sinners  by  any  other  means  is  absolutely  incompati- 
ble alike  with  the  nature  of  his  almighty  power  and  with  the 
nature  of  his  infinite  wisdom,  and  is  therefore  in  itself  utterly 
impossible. 

4.  There  is  one  God  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and 
men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus.8  Now  observe ;  there  is  a  God  :  and 
there  is  but  one.  These  are  the  fundamental  truths  of  all  re- 
ligion. Observe  again  ;  there  is  a  Mediator  between  God  and 
men  :  there  is  but  one  :  he  is  the  man  Christ  Jesus.  These  are 
the  fundamental  truths  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  man 
Jesus,  of  the  seed  of  David,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  at  Bethle- 
hem of  Judea,  was  miraculously  conceived  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  her  womb  and  made  of  her  flesh,  truly,  perfectly 
and  entirely  possessing  a  human  nature.  He  was  not  begotten 
or  born  according  to  ordinary  generation,  any  more  than  Adam 
was  ;  and  so  he  was  not  polluted  with  original  sin,  was  not  made 
under  the  curse  or  penalty  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  had  no 
part  in  the  imputed  guilt  of  Adam's  first  transgression,  and  Avas 
not  subject  to  death  in  any  form  :  but  was  holy,  harmless,  unde- 
nted and  separate  from  sinners.3  He  was  called  Jesus  by  the 
express  command  of  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  because  he  should 
save  his  people  from  their  sins,4  which  was  done  in  exact  accord- 
ance with  the  prediction  of  Isaiah  seven  centuries  and  a  half 

1  Cor.,  L  17-31.        2  1  Tim.,  ii.  5.        *  Heb.,  vii.  26.        *  Mat.,  i.  20-23. 


108  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

before,   that   he  should  be  Immarmel.1     This  on  the  side  of 
human  nature,  is  the  Mediator  between  God  and  men. 

5.  On  the  side  of  his  divine  nature  the  Scriptures  are  equally 
explicit.  Fear  not,  said  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  as  he  came  upon 
the  shepherds  of  Judea  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shone  round 
about  them,  and  they  were  sore  afraid  ;  fear  not,  for  I  bring  you 
good  tidings  of  great  joy  which  shall  be  to  all  people.  For  unto 
you  is  born  this  day,  a  Saviour,  who  is  Christ  the  Lord.  And 
this  shall  be  a  sign  unto  you  ;  ye  shall  find  the  babe  wrapped  in 
swaddling  clothes  lying  in  a  manger.  And  suddenly  there  was 
with  the  angel  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host  praising  God, 
and  saying,  glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth,  peace, 
good  will  toward  men.'2  Now  observe  :  it  is  Christ  the  Lord  : 
true  God,  of  true  God  :  as  before  true  man  of  the  seed  of  David. 
Very  God  and  very  man — and  therefore  Christ.  One  God,  the 
Almighty  :  one  Man  even  Jesus  ;  of  the  two,  one  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  men  even  Christ  the  anointed  one.  This  is  the 
testimony  of  men  and  angels,  of  earth  and  heaven,  at  the  mo- 
ment of  his  birth.  And  like  unto  it  is  the  testimony  of  God 
and  man,  of  heaven  and  earth,  when  his  race  was  finished  and 
he  had  led  captivity  captive.  When  the  day  of  Pentecost  was 
fully  come  and  the  Holy  Ghost  was  poured  out  upon  the  Ap>os- 
tles,  devout  men  from  every  nation  under  heaven,  heard  that 
day,  in  Jerusalem,  each  in  his  own  tongue  the  wonderful  works 
of  God.  And  Peter  closed  his  first  great  discourse,  with  these 
memorable  words :  Therefore,  let  all  the  house  of  Israel  know 
assuredly,  that  God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus,  whom  ye  have 
crucified,  both  Lord  and  Christ.3  And  the  Holy  Spirit  sealed 
this  testimony  on  the  spot ;  for  on  the  same  day  about  three 
thousand  souls  gladly  received  the  word,  and  were  baptized  and 
added  unto  them.4  And  still  the  same  testimony  is  lifted  up, 
by  all  the  redeemed.  There  is  a  Saviour,  even  Christ  the  Lord. 
That  same  Jesus,  the  crucified,  hath  God  made  both  Lord  and 
Christ.  The  good  tidings  and  the  great  joy  have  spread  continu- 
ally for  more  than  eighteen  centuries,  and  they  are  still  spreading 
to  all  people.  The  highest  glory  to  God  is  being  reaped  and 
will  be  more  and  more  richly  gathered  forever.  Peace  on  earth, 
peace  that  passcth  all  understanding  is  shed  abroad  in  the  hearts 
of  men  ;  peace  with  God,  peace  with  o^e  auothev,  pca^o  to  their 

1  Isaiah,  vii.  14.        *  Luke,  ii.  8-14.        *  Acis,  n  SS.        d  Acu  <«.  i\. 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE     MEDIATOR.  109 

own  souls  precisely  in  proportion  as  they  accept  this  Saviour. 
Good  will  towards  men,  of  which  the  gift  and  the  advent  of  this 
Mediator  between  God  and  men  are  the  highest  proof  the  uni- 
verse affords,  reigns  upou  earth  exactly  in  the  degree  that  the 
spirit  of  that  universal  brotherhood  amongst  men,  which  has  been 
restored  by  that  same  Jesus  who  was  crucified,  supplants  the 
spirit  which  shed  the  blood  of  him  whom  God  hath  made  both 
Lord  and  Christ.  This  on  the  side  of  the  divine  nature  is  the 
Mediator  between  God  and  men. 

II. — 1.  Into  the  hands  of  this  Mediator,  God  has  committed 
all  his  dealings  with  the  children  of  men.  To  him,  since  all  the 
prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name  whosoever  believeth  in 
him,  shall  receive  remission  of  sins.1  Such  was  the  conclusive 
testimony  of  the  Apostle  Peter  as  to  the  matter  of  salvation,  on 
the  memorable  occasion  of  the  baptism  of  the  first  Gentile  con- 
verts in  the  persons  of  Cornelius  of  Cassarea  and  his  household. 
Not  less  clear  is  the  revelation  by  the  Apostle  Paul  concerning 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  which  was  made  of  the  seed  of  David 
according  to  the  flesh,  and  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with 
power  according  to  the  Spirit  of  holiness  by  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead.2  So  that  according  to  the  judgment  of  these 
two  apostles  the  remission  of  sins  is  committed  absolutely  to 
him,  and  is  made  to  depend  exclusively  on  faith  in  him  : 
and  so  he,  the  seed  of  David  and  the  Son  of  God,  and  thus 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with 
power.  And  the  proof  of  all  this  adduced  by  them  is  the  unani- 
mous testimony  of  all  the  prophets,  Christ's  own  resurrection 
from  the  dead,  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  direct 
proclamation  of  God  himself.  And  the  Apostle  John,  treating 
expressly  of  the  person  of  Christ,  of  the  work  he  came  to  accom- 
plish, and  of  his  ineffable  fitness  and  fulness  for  it ;  tells  us  that 
the  "Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us  and  we  beheld  his 
glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father  full  of  grace 
and  truth.3  The  proof  of  all  this  alleged  by  him  lay  before  him, 
and  before  all  men  not  then  only  but  throughout  all  the  genera- 
tions that  have  followed.  For  although  the  world  which  he  had 
made  knew  him  not  when  he  came  into  it ;  and  although  his  own 
received  him  not  when  he  came  unto  them  ;  yet  to  all  who  did 
receive  him  and  believe  upon  him  he  gave  this  sublime  and  un- 

1  Acts.  x.  43.  a  Rom.,  i.  3,  4.  3  John,  i.  14. 


110  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

erring  evidence  concerning  himself,  and  he  continues  to  give  it 
still,  and  will  give  it  while  the  world  shall  last,  namely,  to  them 
gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God.  And  that,  as  to  the 
matter,  and  in  the  manner  thereof,  not  in  any  wise  hereditary, 
nor  in  any  wise  self-produced  by  them,  nor  in  any  wise  the  pro- 
duct of  any  human  power  besides  :  but  simply  his  own  bestow- 
ment  of  a  divine  fitness  and  a  divine'  right  to  become  sons  of 
God.1  Thus  then  stands  the  case.  On  the  one  hand,  he  has 
been  made  like  unto  his  brethren  in  all  things,  that  he  might  be 
a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest,  in  things  pertaining  to  God, 
to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people  ;2  and  on  the 
other  hand  he  is  able  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost,  that  come 
unto  God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
them.3 

2.  All  this  idea  of  the  Mediation  of  Jesus  Christ  between 
God  and  men  involves  and  carries  with  it  certain  other  pro- 
foundly important  ideas.  Its  very  existence  depends  upon  the 
fact  of  there  being  a  breach,  an  alienation,  a  controversy  between 
God  and  man  :  yea  a  controversy  so  fearful  and  deadly,  that  God 
so  to  speak,  will  not  pass  it  by,  and  yet  of  himself  and  simply 
as  God  cannot  adjust  it  :  and  man,  on  his  part  is  either  so  mad 
that  he  will  persist  in  braving  God,  or  else  so  helpless  and  undone 
that  his  case  has  gone  beyond  all  remedy  from  him,  or  else — 
which  is  true — both  of  these  damning  maladies  afflict  him  at 
once.  Now,  moreover,  it  must  needs  be,  that  before  all  media- 
tion, there  must  be  on  one  part,  or  on  both  a  willingness  at  least, 
if  not  a  desire  for  reconciliation  and  a  readiness  to  do  whatever 
may  be  needful  thereunto.  But  here  on  the  part  of  man,  his 
case  is  so  deplorable,  that  having  first  apostatised  from  God,  and 
robbed  him  as  far  as  he  was  able,  of  all  the  glory  which  he  pro- 
posed to  himself  in  his  creation  ;  he  had  gone  on  in  a  course  of 
constant  rebellion  against  God,  and  continual  self-degradation, 
until  in  the  depths  of  his  pollution,  religion  itself  was  made  a 
chief  means  of  insulting  the  majesty  of  heaven,  and  until  the 
only  living  and  true  God  had  become  the  special  object  of  horror 
and  aversion  to  man.  Again,  there  could  be  no  Mediation  prop- 
erly so  called,  unless  upon  terms  either  mutually  agreed  upon,  or 
else  dictated  by  one  party  and  submitted  to  by  the  other,  which 
whatever  they  might  be,  involve  the  idea  of  a  binding  obligation 

1  John,  i.  10-13.  s  Heb.,  ii.  17.  3  Heb.,  vii.  25. 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE    MEDIATOR.  Ill 

upon  both  the  parties,  or  at  least  upon  the  one  having  the  power 
and  the  right  to  dictate.  The  distance  between  God  the  Creator 
and  man  the  creature  is  so  immense,  and  that  between  God  the 
Saviour  and  man  the  sinner  is  so  immeasurable,  that  it  is  only  in 
a  sense  appropriate  to  these  relations  that  we  can  speak  of  terms 
of  mediation  between  God  and  man,  or  attach  to  them  the  nature 
of  a  covenant.  And  yet,  the  Scriptures  constantly  represent  all 
the  dealings  of  God  with  man,  from  the  beginning  of  man's  ex- 
istence under  the  idea  of  covenant  relations  subsisting  between 
God  and  men ;  their  original  ruin  having  been  produced  by  the 
breach  of  the  Covenant  of  Works  in  Adam,  and  their  salvation 
being  possible  only  through  the  Covenant  of  Grace  in  Christ. 
This  whole  subject  of  the  covenants  between  God  and  men,  is 
fundamental  in  its  relations  to  Christian  doctrine,  and  will  be 
treated  separately  hereafter.  Still  further,  the  object  of  the 
Mediator  being  specific  ;  namely,  the  reconciliation  of  the  parties 
between  whom  it  is  undertaken,  whatever  is  done  by  the  Mediator 
must  be  done  unto  that  end,  and  in  that  spirit,  and  in  the  very 
terms  so  far  as  they  may  have  been  specifically  settled,  of  the 
covenant  under  which  the  mediation  is  undertaken.  Christ, 
therefore,  as  the  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  is  the  Mediator 
of  a  covenant  which  looks  to  reconciliation  between  them  ;  his 
very  mission  is  a  gospel :  the  terms  of  the  covenant  springing 
only  from  the  beneficence  of  God,  it  becomes  in  its  very  nature 
a  covenant  of  grace  ;  while  the  end  and  mode  of  its  execution  as 
regards  man  makes  it  a  Covenant  of  Redemption  ;  and  while  as 
compared  with  all  that  had  been  attempted  before,  the  Scriptures 
call  it  the  new  and  better  covenant.  It  is  obvious,  herein,  how 
on  the  one  side  a  clear  conception  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  and 
on  the  other,  of  the  Person  and  Office  of  Christ,  as  the  Mediator 
of  that  covenant,  is  indispensable  in  order  that  we  may  compre- 
hend in  any  tolerable  degree,  on  the  one  hand  the  work  and  the 
glory  of  the  Messiah,  and  on  the  other  the  blessings  and  the 
benefits  which  are  bestowed  on  us  through  him.  And  to  add  but 
one  more  consideration,  the  Mediation  of  Christ,  even  supposing 
all  the  terms  of  it  fully  settled,  and  the  parties  to  it  fully  aware 
that  there  is  no  other  way  to  reconciliation,  and  the  Mediator 
himself  perfectly  qualified  and  wholly  inclined  to  do  all  that  can 
be  done ;  is  still  environed  with  difficulties  arising  out  of  the 
nature  of  the  parties,  and  the  nature  of  the  breach  between 


112  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

them,  which  to  human  reason  would  appear  utterly  insuperable. 
For  one  of  the  parties  has  given  infinite  offence,  while  the  other 
has  acted  with  infinite  rectitude  ;  the  offending  party  is  in  his 
nature  finite,  the  party  offended  is  in  his  nature  infinite  :  the  one 
wholly  unable  to  do  the  least  good  or  satisfy  for  the  smallest 
offence,1  the  other  demanding  perfect  obedience  and  insisting  on 
complete  satisfaction.2  Nay  the  very  order  of  things  is  wholly 
reversed.  For  amongst  men,  it  is  the  weak  and  the  offending 
who  are  supposed  to  desire  and  sue  for  peace  ;3  but  here  it  is  the 
infinite  God,  to  whose  felicity  we  can  add  nothing,  and  whose 
essential  glory  we  cannot  tarnish,  who  beseeches  fallen  men  to 
be  reconciled  unto  him,  and  sends  his  only  begotten  Son  on  that 
amazing  errand.4  And  not  the  least  wonder  of  all  is,  that  the 
fallen,  polluted,  offending  party  to  this  mediation  of  unsearch- 
able love,  should  have  added  to  the  guilt  which  already  no  eye 
pitied,  and  from  which  no  arm  could  save,  the  inconceivable 
atrocity  of  rejecting  and  then  murdering  the  Mediator  himself, 
with  every  circumstance  of  ignominy  and  cruelty  :  and  that  this 
very  act  should  turn  to  such  account,  that  he  whom  they  had 
taken  and  with  wicked  hands  had  crucified  and  slain,  should 
prove  to  have  been  delivered  up  by  the  determinate  counsel  and 
foreknowledge  of  God,'  and  should  in  this  very  way  become  Lord, 
both  of  the  living  and  the  dead." 

3.  The  office  of  the  Mediator  :  the  composition  of  his  person 
out  of  the  two  natures  of  God  and  man  :  the  Covenant  of  Grace 
of  which  he  was  the  Mediator  :  the  work  which  he  performed  as 
Mediator  between  God  and  men  :  the  Mediatorial  kingdom  which 
he  redeemed  :  the  sending  of  the  Comforter  as  his  vicar  in  that 
kingdom,  during  his  personal  absence  at  the  right  hand  of  God  : 
the  blessings  conferred  upon  believers  as  members  of  his  mystical 
body;  and  the  ruin  which  awaits  all  their  enemies  and  his  ;  the 
second  coming  of  the  Lord,  and  the  final  solution  with  infinite 
power  and  glory  of  every  problem  begotten  by  all  these  immense 
truths  and  forces  :  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole,  the  eternal 
counsel  of  God,  whence  all  these  wonders  spring,  and  according  to 
which  they  are  all  directed  with  an  unsearchable  wisdom,  and  by 
an  Almighty  power,  through  an  unutterable  fulness  of  grace  and 
truth  ;  these  are  the  grand  and  awful  themes  of  God.     They 

1  2  Cor.,  iii.  5  ;  Job,  ix.  3.  a  Deut,  xxvi.  26 ;  Mat,  xviii.  34. 

3  Luke,xiv.  31,  32.         *  2  Cor.,  v.  18-21.        6  Acts,  ii.  23.        "  Rom.  xiv.  9. 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE    MEDIATOR.  113 

constitute  in  its  glorious  outline  the  Plan  of  Salvation  of  which, 
as  we  contemplate  it  as  a  stupendous  scheme  of  divine  mercy, 
they  are  the  elemental  parts.  Everything  else  which  enters  into 
the  scope  of  God's  dealings  with  the  children  of  men,  falls,  by  a 
vital  necessity  into  such  an  order  and  place,  as  will  make  it  co- 
herent with  these  living  and  controlling  realities.  In  them  is 
found  the  method  by  which  the  divine  proportion  of  faith  is 
determined.  Out  of  them,  as  a  wdiole,  or  out,  of  each  one  of 
them  separately,  or  out  of  any  two  or  three  of  them  combined, 
flow  all  the  streams  that  make  glad  the  city  of  our  God.  In 
them  explicitly  or  implicitly  the  whole  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion is  contained  and  is  held  forth.  And  in  them  and  by  means 
of  them  is  that  living  force  of  the  word,  the  ordinances,  and  the 
spirit,  by  which  Christianity  is  no  longer  a  belief  or  an  emotion 
only,  no  longer  a  doctrine  or  an  institution  merely,  but  is  an  im- 
perishable, an  irresistible,  and  an  eternal  power. 

4.  Contemplated  in  this  light,  the  Mediator  considered  in 
what  lie  did  while  he  tabernacled  in  the  flesh  ;  in  what  he  was 
before  he  assumed  human  nature  and  became  incarnate  ;  in  what 
he  now  is,  and  what  he  will  be  and  do  through  everlasting  ages  ; 
is  for  us,  assuredly,  the  grand  object  that  fills  immensity  and 
eternity.  His  Dispensation,  using  that  word  in  its  most  compre- 
hensive sense,  and  using  it  because  we  have  none  that  is  more 
comprehensive,  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting.  And  as 
eternity  came  rolling  forward  from  the  past ;  and  as  time  and 
created  things  were  j)rojected  so  to  speak  into  its  awful  cycle  ; 
and  as  time  and  created  things  will  pass  out  of  that  cycle  once 
more  ;  and  as  eternity  and  eternal  things  will  roll  on  unshaken 
in  that  future  abyss,  before  which  our  reason  shrinks  :  still,  at 
all  periods,  and  amidst  all  events,  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God 
is  in  all  and  above  all.  And  the  successive  parts  and  aspects  of 
his  Dispensation,  are  the  things  w'hich  mark  and  divide,  illustrate 
and  control  all  the  parts  and  interests  and  events,  of  time  and 
creation  ;  and  all  the  parts  and  movements  of  grace  and  of 
eternity,  whether  going  before  time  and  creation  or  whether  fol- 
lowing after  them,  are  relevant  to  us  in  the  way  of  mercy,  only 
as  they  are  relevant  to  him,  and  to  God's  love  made  manifest 
through  him.     Let  us  make  this  more  specific. 

(a)  Before  any  effort  of  creative  power  was  put  forth,  even 
from  eternity  he  was  with  God,  and  was  God  ;  the  central  person 

8 


114  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BCOK  II. 

in  that  infinite  being,  the  unity  of  whose  essence  is  the  first  prin- 
ciple of  all  true  religion  and  acceptable  worship.  This  is  the 
first  period  of  his  everlasting  Dispensation.  We  should  mean 
nothing  by  asking  how  long  it  was  after  eternity  began,  before 
the  heavenly  intelligences  were  created. 

(b)  Then  came  the  creation  of  angels.  When,  as  regards  our 
measures  of  time,  God  has  not  told  us.  This  was  the  second 
period  of  his  absolute  Dispensation ;  and  the  first  period  of  his 
Dispensation  as  a  creator ;  for  he  made  them  all :  and  he  will 
rule  over  them  all  forever.  How  long  it  continued  before  any  of 
the  angels  fell,  is  wholly  unknown  to  us. 

(c)  Then  followed  the  war  in  heaven  ;  the  fall  of  those  mighty 
angels  who  kept  not  their  first  estate,  and  their  visitation  by  the 
Son  of  God  with  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire.  This  is  the 
third  period  of  his  dispensation  :  and  in  it  we  have  the  first  ex- 
hibition to  us,  of  the  nature  of  his  moral  government,  and  of 
the  unutterable  certainty  and  completeness  of  his  exercise  of 
penal  justice.  How  long  this  period  lasted  with  a  portion  of  the 
angels  still  in  glory,  and  a  portion  in  the  pit  before  the  creation 
of  man,  we  know  not. 

(d)  Then  we  reach  the  period  at  which  time  began  ;  the  crea- 
tion of  the  heavens  and  the  earth  and  all  that  in  them  is,  in  the 
space  of  six  days  and  all  very  good  :  all  created  by  the  Son  of 
God,  and  all  by  the  word  of  his  power.  The  period  of  man  in 
the  image  of  God,  and  of  God's  covenant  with  him.  This  is  the 
fourth  period  of  the  absolute  Dispensation  of  the  Son  of  God, 
and  the  second  period  of  his  Dispensation  as  a  creator.  We 
know  not,  with  reference  to  the  efflux  of  eternity,  how  or  where 
to  place  this  work  of  creation:  nor  do  we  know  what  relation  it 
bore  in  regard  of  the  length  of  time,  to  cither  of  the  periods 
relating  to  the  angels,  to  their  creation  or  to  their  fall.  Nor  do 
we  know  how  long  this  period  of  man  under  the  Covenant  of 
Works  continued  :  nor  even  with  certainty,  when  it  occurred, 
computing  backward  from  our  own  day. 

(e)  We  come  next  to  the  fall  of  man,  the  first  intimation  of 
the  Covenant  of  Kedemption,  and  the  promise  of  the  Son  of  God, 
as  the  Mediator  thereof.  This  is  the  fifth  period  of  his  absolute 
Dispensation,  and  perhaps  it  is  proper  to  say,  the  third  period  of 
his  Dispensation  as  a  creator  ;  for  the  new  birth  is  as  really  a 
creation  by  God,  and  is  as  really  so  declared  to  be,  as  the  work 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE     MEDIATOR.  115 

of  mere  spiritual  creation  of  the  angels,  or  that  of  combined 
physical  and  spiritual  creation  of  man.  And  I  add,  this  is  the 
first  period  of  his  Dispensation  as  a  Saviour.  During  this  peri  1. 
which  reaches  to  the  incarnation  of  Christ,  the  covenant  of 
grace  was  administered  variously  ;  but  all  the  while  without  any 
change  of  Christ's  personal  relation  to  the  dispensation. 

(/)  Then  came  his  Incarnation.  The  Word  was  made  flesh. 
It  is  not  positively  certain  at  what  precise  period  after  the  crea- 
tion of  man,  or  after  his  fall  this  stupendous  event  occurred. 
There  is  some  room  for  doubt,  and  the  learned  are  not  agreed, 
even  as  to  the  exact  length  of  time  back  to  it  from  our  day.  We 
know,  however,  from  the  word  of  God,  that  it  occurred  precisely 
at  the  point  of  time,  when  according  to  his  own  counsel,  all 
things  had  been  made  ready  for  it.  This  is  the  sixth  period  of 
his  absolute  Dispensation,  and  the  second  period  of  his  Dispen- 
sation as  a  Saviour.  The  life  of  Christ  in  the  flesh  on  earth  con- 
tinued during  about  thirty-three  years  :  his  public  ministry  about 
three  years  :  but  the  duration  of  neither  period  is  settled  with 
absolute  certainty.  And  it  may  be  observed  here,  in  general, 
that  nothing  whatever  as  touching  the  person,  the  office,  or  the 
work  of  Christ,  or  man's  salvation  thereby,  depends  upon  the 
exact  determination  of  those  questions  of  chronology  of  which  the 
number  is  considerable,  and  about  which  the  learned  have  so  ar- 
dently disputed  ;  but  which  God,  apparently  with  design,  has 
left  more  or  less  obscure. 

(g)  The  next  period  is  that  marked  by  the  resurrection  of 
Christ  from  amongst  the  dead,  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept. 
This  is  the  seventh  period  of  his  absolute  Dispensation  ;  it  is  the 
fourth  period  of  his  Dispensation  as  a  creator,  for  herein,  and  by 
means  of  it  is  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ;  and  it  is  the  third 
period  of  his  Dispensation  as  a  Saviour.  His  human  body  slept 
in  the  grave,  under  the  j)ower  of  death  ;  his  human  soul  was  in 
the  bosom  of  God  ;  and  his  divine  nature,  then  as  always  filled 
immensity.  In  this  as  in  all  things  it  behooved  him  to  be  made 
like  unto  his  brethren  ;  whose  souls  and  bodies,  like  his  soul  and 
body,  are  separated  during  the  period  that  elapses  between  their 
death  and  resurrection  ;  their  bodies  sleeping  in  the  grave,  their 
souls  dwelling  with  God.  Moreover  Christ's  human  soul  and 
body  were  united  again  by  the  breaking  of  the  power  of  death, 
which  could  not  hold  him  :  and  so  will  the  souls  and  bodies  of 


116  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IL 

all  believers  who  shall  ever  die,  be  reunited  by  the  breaking  of 
the  same  power  of  death  as  to  every  one  of  tlicm.  Precisely  here 
is  a  great  point  remaining  to  be  more  considered  by  the  church. 
"Will  believers  like  Christ  also  dwell  on  earth  in  their  resurrection 
bodies  ?  Is  he,  after  breaking  the  power  of  death  and  after 
rising  from  the  grave,  made  like  unto  his  brethren  in  the  estate 
which  proceeded  his  ascension,  as  he  was  in  taking  flesh,  in  dying, 
in  sleeping,  and  rising  from  the  dead  ?  Is  that,  or  not,  the  type 
of  the  Millennial  kingdom  ?  Is  it  a  type  of  any  estate  yet  in 
reserve  for  the  people  of  God  ? 

(h)  We  arrive  next,  at  the  ascension  of  Christ  into  glory,  his 
sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high  and  his  sending 
forth  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  is  the  eighth  period  of  his  abso- 
lute Dispensation  ;  the  fifth  period  of  his  Dispensation  as"  a 
creator,  for  therein  his  new  creation  is  produced  and  exhibited, 
in  a  manner  and  with  a  power  never  before  seen,  extending  from 
Pentecost  to  his  second  coming  :  the  Dispensation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  with  power  as  the  vicar  of  the  Son  of  God  amongst  men. 
It  is  also  the  fourth  period  of  his  Dispensation  as  a  Saviour. 
This  is  the  point  in  the  development  of  the  unsearchable  mystery 
of  Christ,  unto  which  we  are  now  come.  To-day  we  stand  thus  : 
In  the  eighth  Dispensation  of  the  Son  of  God  :  in  his  fifth  Dis- 
pensation as  creator  of  all  things  :  in  his  fourth  Dispensation  as 
the  Saviour  of  sinners.  What  the  Apostle  Paul  said  eighteen 
centuries  ago,  we  can  say  still.  We  do  not  as  yet  see  all  that 
was  promised  in  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  bestowed  on  him  as  the 
Mediator  of  that  covenant ;  but  we  have  seen  a  great  deal ;  all, 
up  to  the  point  of  his  being  crowned  with  glory  and  honor.  And 
we  are  sure  of  all  the  rest.1 

(7)  The  next  Dispensation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  will  be 
his  return  in  glory  to  raise  the  dead,  to  judge  the  world  and  to 
reign  in  righteousness  with  his  saints.  This  will  be  the  ninth 
Dispensation  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  his  sixth  Dispensation  as  cre- 
ator, for  in  it,  he  will  make  all  things  new  ;  his  fifth  Dispen- 
sation as  a  Saviour.  That  will  be  his  Millennial  Dispensation  ;  in 
regard  to  which,  as  I  have  several  times  intimated,  his  people  are 
so  much  divided  and  perplexed  ;  and  in  regard  to  which  there- 
fore, when  speaking  incidentally  in  a  general  survey  of  this  sort, 
it  is  the  more  proper  to  avoid  all  extreme  statements.     This  is 

1  Heb.,  ii.  9. 


CHAP.  IX.]  TIIE    MEDIATOR.  117 

what  the  Apostle  Faul  declares  concerning  the  matter,  when 
writing  expressly  of  it  to  the  church  of  Corinth.  As  all  die  in 
Adam,  all  shall  rise  in  Christ.  The  order  of  that  resurrection 
is  this  :  first  Christ ;  secondly  they  who  are  Christ's — which  will 
occur  at  his  coming  :  thirdly,  the  changing  of  the  living  saints 
in  a  moment,  at  Christ's  coming,  and  after  the  resurrection  of 
the  righteous  dead  ;  then  the  reign  of  Christ  till  all  things  are 
put  under  him,  and  every  enemy  under  his  feet  :  the  last  enemy 
being  death.  Then  cometh  the  end  :  and  Christ's  work  having 
been  folly  accomplished,  he  will  deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  the 
Father.1  And  this  if  fully  accepted  and  believed,  involves  all 
that  we  can  need  for  our  satisfaction  and  abounding  comfort. 

(J)  And  this  brings  us  to  the  end  of  all  that  God  has  revealed 
to  us  concerning  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Mediator  between 
God  and  men.  For  it  is  mauifest,  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  that 
although  God  hath  put  all  things  under  his  Son,  as  Mediator  of 
the  Covenant  of  Grace,  yet  lie  who  did  put  all  things  under  him, 
is  himself  necessarily  excepted.2  Exalted  now,  far  above  all 
principalities  and  powers,  and  made  head  over  all  things  to  the 
church,  which  is  his  body  ;3  reigning  in  the  heavens  until  the 
time  of  the  restitution  of  all  things  which  God  hath  spoken  by 
the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  prophets  since  the  world  began  ;4  urg- 
ing forward  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times,  through 
which  God  is  gathering  together  in  one,  all  things  which  are  in 
heaven  and  which  are  on  earth,  even  in  Christ  ;5  when  the  infi- 
nitely glorious  end  shall  be  fully  reached,  he  will  deliver  up  the 
kingdom  which  he  redeemed,  perfected,  judged  and  reigned  over 
to  God,  even  the  Father ;  and  the  Son  himself  shall  be  subject 
unto  him  that  put  all  things  under  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in 
all. '  The  counsels  of  eternity  so  far  as  they  related  to  the  power, 
the  work  and  the  glory  of  Christ,  the  Mediator  of  the  Covenant  of 
Grace  will  have  been  perfectly  accomplished.  The  salvation  of 
sinners  will  have  been  absolutely  and  eternally  perfected  ;  and 
the  Lamb's  book  of  life  in  which  is  the  record  of  the  names  of 
the  children  of  the  kingdom,7  and  which  is  the  proof  of  their 
ingrafting  into  Christ  and  their  complete  salvation  by  him,M  will 
be  openly  displayed.9    And  then  the  kingdom  itself  upon  this 

1  1  Cor.,  xv.  22-28.  and  51-57.         2  1  Cor.,  xv.  27.  3  Eph.,  i.  20-23. 

4  Acts,  ii.  21.  5  Eph.,  L  10.  si  Cor.,  xv.  21-28. 

*  PhiL,  iv.  3.  s  Rev.,  iii.  5,  and  xiii.  8.     9  Rev.,  xx.  12. 


118  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD,  [BOOK  II. 

eternal  record  of  it,  will  be  delivered  up  :  and  the  record  itself 
with  every  soul  inscribed  in  it,  shall  pass  under  the  direct  do- 
minion, and  into  the  eternal  fruition  of  God  as  God,  the  glorified 
Mediator  of  it  having  thus  entered  upon  his  tenth  Dispensation, 
as  the  Son  of  God,  his  seventh  Dispensation  as  creator  of  that 
unspeakably  glorious  condition  of  the  universe,  and  his  sixth 
dispensation  as  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  thus  made  perfectly  blessed 
in  the  full  fruition  of  God  to  all  eternity.1 

5.  The  end  of  our  faith  is  the  salvation  of  our  souls.  It  is 
only  by  the  mighty  power  of  God,  that  we  can  be  kept  even 
through  faith  unto  salvation.  The  trial  of  our  faith,  though 
that  trial  of  it  be  a  token  of  its  preciousness  in  the  sight  of  God, 
yet  is  often  by  fire,  that  it  may  the  more  assuredly  apprehend 
and  the  more  perfectly  receive  Christ  who  is  the  object  of  it,  and 
salvation  which  is  the  end  of  it.  Nor  need  we  wonder  at  the 
depth  or  the  fulness  of  the  mystery  of  this  salvation,  when  the 
very  prophets  who  predicted  it,  enquired  and  searched  diligently 
without  fully  comprehending  what  and  what  manner  of  time  or 
things  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them,  did  signify  when 
it  testified  beforehand,  the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  the  glory 
which  should  follow.  Nor  is  there  any  occasion  for  us  to  be  cast 
down  or  to  be  deterred  from  the  fullest  inspection  of  these  glori- 
ous and  life-giving  mysteries,  when  we  learn  that  this  superadded 
vastness  and  complexity  by  reason  of  the  gospel  preached  unto 
men,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven,  filled  even  the 
angels  of  God  with  a  holy  curiosity  and  a  longing  desire  to  look 
into  them.2  In  one  respect  the  way  of  life  is  infinitely  simple. 
In  another  respect  it  is  unfathomable.  But  the  most  simple 
parts  of  it  hang  directly  upon  the  most  unfathomable  :  and  the 
most  unfathomable  lead  us  directly  to  the  most  simple.  Just  so 
it  is  here.  For  nothing  is  more  obvious  and  more  level  to  the 
humblest  comprehension  than  the  reconciliation  of  enemies  by 
the  intervention  of  a  mutual  friend.  And  yet  this  simple  idea 
when  applied  to  God  and  man,  carries  us  step  by  step  and  by 
absolute  necessity,  through  all  the  mysteries  of  the  Godhead,  and 
all  the  mysteries  of  human  nature  ;  and  then  brings  us  back  to 
the  first  and  simple  truth,  laden  with  priceless  treasures  of  wis- 
dom and  knowledge. 

1  Rev.,  xxi.  21.  J  1  Peter,  i.  7-12. 


CHAPTER   X. 

inE  HtJMUlATIOK,   AND  THE  EXALTATION  OF  THE  MEDIATOR:    HIS 

TWO  ESTATES. 

I.  1.  The  estates  in  wnich  Immanuel  executes  his  office  of  Mediator. — 2.  Doctrine 
of  the  two  preceding  chapters  applied. — 3.  Statement  and  division  of  the  sub- 
ject.— i.  The  peculiar  aspect  which  this  twofold  condition  of  Christ  gives  to  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  and  to  Christian  experience. — 5.  A  more  perfect  division  of  his 
estates  intimated  by  Christ.  Doxology  of  the  Lord's  Prayer. — 6.  Detailed  expo- 
sition of  it,  with  reference  to  the  present  subject. — II.  1.  What  constitutes  the 
humiliation  of  Christ. — 2.  The  fact  and  method  of  his  incarnation  and  life  on 
earth. — 3.  His  crucifixion.  Cause  and  import  of  it. — i.  His  very  office,  no  less 
than  his  incarnation  and  sacrifice,  a  humiliation. — III.  What  constitutes  the  exalt- 
ation of  Christ. — 1.  His  resurrection. — 2.  nis  ascension  to  Heaven. — 3.  His  do- 
minion at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father. — 4.  The  infinite  glory  of  his  second  com- 
ing.— IV.  1.  The  necessity  both  of  the  humiliation  and  the  exaltation  of  Christ. 
— 2.  The  matter  as  revealed,  and  why  so  revealed. — 3.  Its  relevancy  to  the 
eternal  decree  of  God. — i.  Its  posture  in  the  infinite  nature  of  the  case. — 5.  Its 
solution  of  the  relations  of  God  and  man,  and  of  the  relations  of  the  Mediator  to 
both. 

I. — 1.  In  the  two  preceding  chapters  it  was  the  Person  and 
the  Office  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  occupied  our  atten- 
tion :  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation  and  the  mystery  of  the 
Mediation  of  the  Son  of  God.  We  have  seen  the  divine  fitness 
of  his  person — Immanuel — so  marvellously  constituted  to  perform 
the  work  of  redeeming  love  :  and  we  have  seen  the  office  which 
he  executed,  that  of  Mediator  between  God  and  men — in  the 
whole  of  that  divine  work.  The  whole  of  what  God  does  for 
man  through  this  Mediator,  so  far  from  being  confined  to  man's 
brief  existence  on  this  earth,  covers  the  whole  of  his  immortal 
existence  :  and  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  divides  his  Mediatorial 
work  into  two  portions,  as  distinct  in  their  nature,  as  the  two 
portions  of  the  existence  of  man  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the 
grave.  For  the  aid  of  our  weak  faculties  in  discerning  and  then 
in  profiting  by  the  truth,  these  obvious  distinctions  are  made  the 
ground  of  a  separate  treatment  of  the  two  portions  of  the  work 


120  I    E  N  0  W  I.  B  D  G  E    0  F    G  0  P .  [BOOK  II. 

I  by  his  d  las  '  reat- 

ment  also  of  iho  applical  both  portions  of  Christ's  work 

-  -  Js    is  divided  by  the 

And  so  we  speak  of  the  two  Estates  in  which  the  Medi- 

xecutes  his  office  :  calling  one  of  thorn  his  estate  of  Hu- 
miliation, and  the  other  his  estate  of  Exaltation.     1:  is  to  the 
illustration  of  these  two  estates,  that  this  chapter  is  devoted. 
•J.  What  basl      d  shown  to  be  true  of  the  Person  and  of  the 

mceming  both  tl  tea  in 

which  he  execo  iy.  that  his  tw  t  natures 

united  in  son,  are  no  more  to  be  confounded 

and  no  more   to  1  ./.plate  the  estates  in 

s  d  scharged,  than  when  we  contem- 
manuel  in  the  mystery  of  his  Inearna- 
him  in  his  -  the  Mediator  between 

I  and  men.     It  is  the  pers  s        ted  out  of  both  natures  : 

a  rilled  by  a  days-man  who  his  both  natures  ;  and 
in  like  manm  .        is  iliatiou  and  exaltation  of  him  in 

th  natures  are  thus  united.     It  is  in  vain   to   - 
Ihead  can  neither  be  humiliate  salted  :  in  vain  to  see- 

the human  nature  cannot  possess    rexcrcis  fthe 

(Godhead.     All  such  cavils        s    illoweduj  ass        is  we  accept 

iter  than  all  that  such  cavils  can  sug- 
.  which  itself  solves  them  all ;  :  sterj         mmanuel, 

-    in  the  flesh:  and  if  we  accept  not  that   mystery, 
all  reasonings  ure  vaiu.  and  all  salvation  for  men 

ssasai  .  for  devils.     It  is  Christ  who  is  hu- 

miliated :  it  is  Christ  who  is  exalted.     Whoever  Christ  is.  it  is  he 
as  Medial  i     .    Ily  discharges  his  whole  office  in  these  two 
estates  so  wid  .each  other.     The  infinite  God  has 

many  s  and  many  appellations  by  which  he  makes  himself 

known  and  by  whi  sad   red:  but  his  personal,  incommuni- 

cable, specific  name,  expressive  of  his  very  essence,  is  Jehovah. 
S  .:    '.  G  \1  has  many  names  and  many  appellations. 
Ions:  but  his  name  Christ.  Messiah 
— th<  I — one  the  Greek  and  the  other  the  Hebrew 

fth<  ideas  fundamentally  involved  in  his  whole  nature 
and  work.   Lesigi        5]  it  is.  that  is  both  humiliated 

exalted  :  the  very  same,  namely,  who  is  Immauuel,  and  who 
_  God-man,  is  Mediator. 


OHi  P.  a.]  I  ii  E    i:  1 1  a  I  B  B    0  r    OHBI0T.  1 21 

.''.  It  is  obvious  thai  Chri  I  esti  te  of  humiliation,  might  be 
divided  into  many  portions.  A  .  foi  example,  into  the  period 
from  lii-  Incarnation  to  the  commencement  of  hi-  public  mil 
— the  period  embracing  that  ministry — the  period  of  his  trial  and 
crucifixion — and  the  period  during  which  I)';  remained  under  the 
r  of  death.    Still  however  all  I  constitute  a  per- 

il humiliation.    In  the  same  wayChristfs  '-.fate  of  exaltation 
might  be  divided  into  Lis  resurrection  from  the  dead — his  contin- 
ual irth  during  about  fori  after  his  resurrection — 
Li--  ascension  up  into  glory— hi  11  things, at  the  right 
1  of  tli';  Majesty  on  high — his  second  coming  to  judge  the 
:  and  the  dead — his  infinite  reign  with  th<  — his  deli 
up  of  the  perfected  kingdom  to  the]  j  of  glory 
to  all  eternity.    Nevertheless  all  these  are  but  part*  per- 
petual  exaltation  which  becomes  more  and  more  ineffable,  until  our 
are  lost  in  ev<                 '  '          pit.    It  i«  simpler,  tl 
and  puts  these  sublime  questions  more  within  our  reach  to 
limit  the  estates  in  which  Chri               tes  the  office  of  .Mediator 
to  two  only,  as  exhaustive  of  the  subject :  his  estate,  namely 
Humiliation,  and  his  estate  of  Exaltation.    The  former  extending 
hi.-;  conception  to  hi-  resurrection — and  embracing  all  that 
relates  to  his  life,  his  sufferings,  his  temptations,  his  crucifixion, 
and  hid  remaining  under  the  power  of  death.     The  latter  com- 
mencing with  his  resurrection,  and  extending  through  eternity. 
4.  It  is  this  twofold  position  of  Messiah,  as  at   one  time  a 
emer  humiliated  even  to  the  cross,  and  at   another  time  a 
Ruler  exalted  even  to  the  throne  of  the  universe-,  which  throws 
over  the  Bcriptun                          peculiar.     The  representations 
by  prophets  and  apostles,  at  one  time  of  his  Bufferings,  his  trials 
and  his  temptations,  contrasted  with  the  representations  by  pro- 
phets and  apostles  at  another  time  of  his  transcendent  glory  and 

are  well  calculated  to  perplex  the  hearts  of  i 
believers  and  to  seduce  us  into  a  state  of  mind  in  which  we  are 
habitually  and  unduly  d  with  one  or  the  other  aspect  of 

the  subject.  It  seemed  almost  impossible  i>r  the  ancient  people 
of  God  to  bring  themselves  \w^>  sympathy  with  I  relations, 

which  made  known  to  them  the  infinite  humiliation  which 
awaited  Messiah  :  while  they  joyfully  laid  hold  on  every  promise 
of  his  coming  glory.  For  us  the  difficulty  is  reversed.  The 
demonstration  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  has  been  made  bv  the 


122  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD  [BOOK   n. 

fact  itself,  palpable  to  the  weakest  faith,  and  enters  fundamen- 
tally into  the  present  form  of  all  religious  teaching  and  life  : 
while  the  glory  of  Messiah,  beyond  what  has  yet  been  manifested 
to  the  universe,  takes  the  place  in  our  minds  which  his  humilia- 
tion occupied  in  the  minds  of  his  ancient  people.     They  had 
daily  proof  of  his  infinite  power :  but  they  had  never  seen  him 
nailed  to  the  cross.     We  have  daily  proof  of  everything,  up  to 
the  point  when  Jesus  was  crowned  with  glory  and  honor  :  but 
now  we  see  not  yet  all  things  put  under  him.1     And   so   the 
habitual  form  of  insufficiency  in  our  spiritual  life,  is  the  reverse 
of  theirs,  but  no  less  real ;  unless  it  were  true,  that  the  highest 
exaltation  of  Christ  is  of  less  moment  to  us,  than  his  lowest 
humiliation.     The  Apostle  Paul,  in  a  very  short  passage,  has  set 
the  whole  matter  in  a  position  of  wonderful  force  and  light.2 
The  original  condition  of  Christ  was  that  he  was  in  the  form  of 
God,  and  thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God.     After 
that,  he  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the 
form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men  :  and 
being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself,  and  be- 
came obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.     What 
followed  was  that  God  hath  highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him  a 
name  which  is  above  every  name  :  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus 
every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth, 
and  things  under  the  earth  :  and  that  every  tongue  should  con- 
fess that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father. 
This  sublime  statement  is  introduced,  let  us  remember,  with  the 
most  earnest  appeal,  founded  upon  all  our  consolation  in  Christ, 
and  all  the  comfort  of  our  Christian  love,  and  all  the  fellowship 
of  the  Spirit,  that  this  mind  should  be  in  us,  which  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus.3     This  mind  which  made  him  consider  it  no  rob- 
bery to  be  equal  with  God,  when  he  was  in  the  form  of  God  : 
this  mind  which  induced  him  to  humble  himself  to  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross,  when  he  was  found  in  fashion  as  a  man  : 
this  mind  which  fitted  him  for  the  ineffable  dominion  and  glory 
and  blessedness,  to  which  God  hath  exalted  him.     So  that  all 
parts  of  the  work  of  Christ  ought  to  find  expression  in  our  inner 
life  ;  and  every  form  of  the  mind  that  was  in   Christ  ought  to 
find  its  image  in  us  :  and  then  we  may  confidently  hope  that 
we  shall  not  only  be  made  conformable  unto  his  death,  and  have 
•  Heb.,  ii.  6-9.  9  Phil.,  ii.  5-11.  3  Phil,  ii.  1-5. 


CHAP.  X.]  THE    ESTATES    OF    CHRIST.  123 

fellowship  with  his  Buffering,  but  shall  also  know  tho  power  of 
his  resurrection,  and  be  fashioned  in  a  glory  like  unto  his  glory 
and  according  to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subdue 
all  things  unto  himself.1 

5.  Unspeakably  important,  therefore,  in  every  point  of  view, 
is  this  whole  question  of  the  different  estates  in  which  Christ 
executes  his  office  of  a  Mediator  :  important  to  the  right  under- 
standing both  of  the  way  and  nature  of  salvation,  and  not  less 
so  to  the  perfect  cultivation  and  development  of  the  life  of  God 
iu  our  own  souls.     After  what  I  have  said  of  the  classification 
long  adopted  by  the  jjeople  0f  God,  and  herein  followed  by  me 
as  simple  and  exhaustive  of  the  subject :  I   may  add  that  it  is 
not  the   nomenclature,   nor   exactly  the    classification   I  would 
adopt  if  I  were  treating  a  subject  which  could  be  considered  in 
any   respect   new,    or   concerning  which  any  one   can  now  feel 
authorized  to  disregard  wholly  as  a  public  teacher  the  settled 
nomenclature  and  ideas  of  the  Church  of  Christ  during  so  many 
ages.     Still  it  is  my  duty  to  say,  that  it  appears  to  me  Christ 
himself  has  suggested  both  a  different  nomenclature  and  a  more 
complete  method,  in  a  passage  whose  force  has  been  wonderfully 
and,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  universally  overlooked,  by 
those  who  have  discussed  these  great  subjects  in  a  systematic 
manner.     Of  all  the  written  compositions  which  the  human  race 
possesses,  the  most  remarkable,  beyond  all  doubt,  are  the  Ten 
Commandments  which  Moses  declares  were  delivered  to  him  by 
God,  and  the  Lord's  prayer,  which  Matthew  informs  us  was  uttered 
by  the  Saviour  as  part  of  his  wonderful  sermon  on  the  mount, 
and  which,  as  appears  by  the  testimony  of  Luke,  he  habitually 
taught  his  followers.2     Both  of  these  are  very  brief.     But   the 
former  contains,  in  four  statements  the  sum  of  all  our  duty  to 
God,  and  in  six  statements  the  sum  of  all  our  duty  to  man  : 
while  the  latter  contains  in  ten  statements,  occupying  hardly  ten 
lines,   not  only  the  rule,  but  the  very  substance,   of  the  most 
complicated,  the  most  boundless,  the  most  various,  and  the  most 
urgent  of  all  the  manifestations  of  man — namely  his  devotional 
feelings.     If  Jesus  and  Moses  had  produced  nothing  else — these 
two  gifts  would  have  placed  them  above  all  the  benefactors  of 
mankind.     In   the   case  of  Jesus,  the   prayer  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  was  not  uttered  as  on  his  own  behalf,  but  was  taught  to 

1  Fliil,  iii.  8-21.  *  Exodus,  xx;  Mat.,  vi.  5-15;  Luke,  xL  1-13. 


124  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  II 

the  multitudes  as  for  the  benefit  of  all  men.  And  it  formed  a 
portion,  as  already  intimated,  of  that  most  remarkable  discouise 
of  the  Saviour,  in  which  he  explained  the  manner  in  which  all 
the  law,  all  the  prophets,  all  righteousness,  were  perfected  and 
completed  in  him  :  nothing  of  the  past  destroyed — but  every- 
thing, and  each  after  its  kind,  fulfilled,  accomplished,  completed, 
terminated,  perfected,  in  him.  And  so  in  this  boundless  array, 
the  matter  of  acceptable  worship,  and  prayer  as  a  fundamental 
part  thereof,  fell  into  its  place  and  was  treated  with  the  rest ; 
and  the  form  given  closes  with  this  sublime  Doxology.— "  Thine 
is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  forever.  Amen." 
It  is  in  this  Doxology,  that  the  Saviour  intimates,  as  I  suppose, 
the  natural  division  of  his  whole  work  as  Mediator  between  God 
and  man  ;  and  affixes  to  each  part,  its  specific  designation — of 
his  kingdom,  his  power,  and  his  glory.  His  kingdom  meaning 
the  portion  answering  exactly  to  his  estate  of  Humiliation  :  his 
power  and  his  glory,  together,  answering  to  his  estate  of  Exalta- 
tion :  but  Christ  dividing  this  estate  into  two,  of  which  the 
former  extends  from  his  resurrection  to  his  second  coming,  and 
the  latter  from  that  second  coming  onward  through  eternity.  It 
is  well  that  the  established  division  and  nomenclature,  so  nearly 
represent  the  substance  of  Christ's  Mediatorial  work  ;  and  that 
they  do  not  depart  even  from  the  form  of  it,  more  seriously  than 
they  do.  But  it  had  been  better,  and  that  to  an  extent  we  can- 
not fully  appreciate,  by  a  more  careful  search  into  the  Divine 
Word,  to  have  hit  precisely  not  only  upon  the  substance,  but  also 
upon  the  very  form  and  the  very  nomenclature  intimated  by 
Christ.     But  let  us  examine  this  somewhat  more  closely. 

G.  It  is  not  meant  to  be  asserted  that  the  word  "  kingdom" 
used  with  reference  to  Christ  and  his  Mediatorial  work,  is  con- 
fined exclusively  to  the  period  of  his  personal  Ministry.  On  the 
contrary  this  very  Doxology  teaches  us  that  the  Messianic  king- 
dom will  extend  beyond  the  personal  ministry  of  Christ,  and  will 
cover  a  period  after  his  resurrection  during  which  power,  even 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  will  be  the  great  characteristic  of 
the  kingdom  ;  and  that  afterwards  another  period  extending  to 
eternity  will  commence  on  the  second  coming  of  the  Son  of  God, 
when  glory,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  expressed,  both  power  and  glory 
will  especially  distinguish  the  kingdom.  The  Messianic  kingdom 
is  first  manifested  to  men  under  the  visible  headship  q<  Messiah 


CHAP.  X.j  THE     ESTATES     OF     CHRIST.  125 

himself,  during  the  personal  ministry  of  Christ  :  and  so,  while 
it  is  called,  under  that  form,  by  many  other  names,  it  is  called 
emphatically  j3aoi?,eta!  the  kingdom,  or  the  kingdom  of  God,  or 
of  heaven  ;  and  I  believe  the  Scriptures  will  be  searched  in  vain 
for  the  application  of  the  word  power,  dwajuc;,  or  the  word  glory, 
dd£a,  to  the  kingdom,  as  descriptive  of  it,  while  it  abode  in  that 
form.  The  very  burden  of  the  testimony  of  John  the  Baptist 
as  the  forerunner  of  Christ  was  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
was  at  hand  :  nay,  that  Christ,  though  unknown,  was  standing 
in  their  midst.1  What  Jesus  himself  began  to  preach  was,  "  the 
Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  :"'  What  he  sent  forth  his  twelve  apos- 
tles to  proclaim  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  forbid- 
ding them  to  go  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles,  or  to  enter  into  any 
city  of  the  Samaritans,  was  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand.3  And  what  he  sent  the  seventy  disciples  to  teach  in  every 
place  to  which  he  purposed  to  come  himself,  was  that  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you.4  And  this  is  the  same  king- 
dom, and  the  same  portion  of  it,  namely,  his  own  tabernacling  in 
the  flesh,  full  of  grace  and  truth,  and  manifesting  in  himself 
the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  to  whicb  he  alludes 
in  that  Doxology,  as  a  matter  for  which  every  soul  that  prays 
should  magnify  the  name  of  God.  As  to  the  next  aspect  of  the 
Messianic  kingdom,  the  portion  of  it  held  forth  with  power,  even 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  which  should  reach  from  the 
ascension  of  Christ  till  his  second  coming :  the  Scriptures  seem  to 
be  equally  explicit.  The  Saviour,  speaking  to  his  apostles  of  his 
early  departure  to  the  Father  to  prepare  a  place  for  them — and 
of  his  purpose  to  come  again,  and  receive  them  unto  himself: 
says  to  them,  I  will  pray  the  Father  and  he  shall  give  you 
another  Comforter,  that  he  may  abide  with  you  forever :  even  the 
Spirit  of  Truth,  whom  the  world  cannot  receive,  because  it  seeth 
him  not,  neither  knoweth  him  :  but  ye  know  him  for  he  dwelleth 
with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you.  That  Comforter,  adds  Christ,  is 
the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name  ;  he 
shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remem- 
brance, whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you.6  And  again  :  when 
the  Comforter  is  come  whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from  the 
Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  Truth  which  proceedeth  from   the- 

1  John,  i.  26.  2  Mat.,  iii. ;  Luke,  iii. ;  Mat.,  iv.  23.         3  Mat,  x.  5-7. 

4  Luke,  x.  1-10.  5  John,  xiv.  passim. 


126  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

Father,  he  shall  testify  of  me.1  And  again  :  It  is  expedient  for 
you,  that  I  go  away  :  for  if  I  go  not  away  the  Comforter  will  not 
come  unto  you  ;  but  if  I  depart  I  will  send  him  unto  you.  And 
when  he  is  come  he  will  reprove  the  world  of  sin,  of  righteous- 
ness, and  of  judgment :  of  sin,  because  they  believe  not  on  me  : 
of  righteousness,  because  I  go  to  my  Father  and  ye  see  me  no 
more  :  of  judgment,  because  the  prince  of  this  world  is  judged.2 
And  to  the  same  purport,  are  innumerable  statements  of  the 
word  of  God.  But  what  believer  doubts,  that  the  dispensation 
which  is  passing  over  us,  is  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  that  it  is  he  alone  who  is  the  author  of  the  new  birth,  and 
of  all  divine  life  in  the  soul  of  every  child  of  God  ?  It  is  the 
period  of  the  Messianic  kingdom,  manifested  with  that  divine 
power  which  was  exhibited  so  marvellously  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost— and  which  will  continue  till  the  glory  of  Messiah  shall  be 
personally  manifested,  at  his  second  coming.  And  now  of  that 
second  coming,  and  of  the  infinite  glory  thereof,  how  repeated 
and  how  explicit  are  the  testimonies  of  God  ?  One  of  the  last 
of  inspired  men,  quoting  by  name,  the  wTords  of  one  of  the  first, 
proclaims  this  constant  doctrine  of  divine  revelation,  in  its  most 
contact  form  :  Behold  the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousand  of 
his  saints,  to  execute  judgment  upon  all.3  This  is  that  Lord 
Jesus  who  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels, 
in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God, 
and  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  who 
shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power  :  when  he  shall 
come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be  admired  in  all  them 
that  believe.4  This  is  the  kingdom,  and  this  the  power  of  it,  and 
this  the  glory  of  it — for  which  the  Lord  Jesus  teaches  every 
pious  heart  to  rejoice  in  God,  while  time  endures  :  and  which  the 
saints  are  to  commemorate  throughout  endless  ages.  These  are 
the  estates  intimated  by  Christ  himself,  in  which  he  founds,  re- 
deems, perfects,  and  reigns  over  his  kingdom  :  the  first  distin- 
guished by  the  personal  ministry  of  Christ,  the  second  distin- 
guished by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the  vicar  of  Christ, 
the  third  distinguished  by  the  inconceivable  glory  of  Christ 
when  he  comes  again  to  take  it,  judge  it,  perfect  it,  and  deliver 
it  up  to  the  Father.  And  the  divine  nomenclature  itself  is  un- 
2  John,  xiv.  2G.        a  John,  xvi.  f-15.         3  Jude,  14,  15.        4  1  Thess.,  i.  T-10. 


CHAP.  X.]  THE    ESTATES    OF    CHRIST.  127 

Bpeakably  fruitful.  For  the  careful  use  of  it  unlocks  many  of 
the  prophecies  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  and  especially 
those  uttered  by  Christ — by  determining  their  chronological  order  : 
and  the  faithful  adherence  to  it,  sheds  abundant  light  upon  the 
proportion  of  faith,  touching  many  doctrines  which  enter  pro- 
foundly into  every  period,  and  especially  the  third  one  of  Christ's 
kingdom.  Many  prophecies  which  are  obscure,  and  many  doc- 
trines which  perplex  us  in  the  absence  of  this  knowledge,  fall 
naturally  and  clearly  into  their  place,  whether  in  the  great  cur- 
rent of  events,  or  in  the  great  scheme  of  faith,  as  soon  as  we 
observe  whether  it  is  (3aoiXeia,  or  6vvaj.it g,  or  6o$a — the  kingdom — 
the  power — or  the  glory,  to  which  they  specially  appertain.  And 
this,  of  itself,  is  abundant  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  ex- 
position here  given.  Nor  is  it  without  its  use  to  have  pointed 
out,  how  the  long  accepted  method  of  treating  these  great  ques- 
tions  of  the  humiliation  and  exaltation  of  Christ,  may  be 
brought  into  a  near  harmony  with  the  method  suggested  by 
Christ  himself ;  without  suddenly  changing  a  large  part  of  the 
nomenclature  of  systematic  Theology,  and  recasting  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  form  of  it. 

II. — 1.  The  nature  and  the  efficacy  of  the  work  wmich  Christ 
performs  in  his  estate  of  humiliation  and  his  estate  of  exaltation  ; 
as  well  as  all  that  relates  to  the  offices  of  prophet,  priest  and 
king,  which,  as  Mediator,  he  executes  in  both  estates  :  belong  to 
a  different  part  of  the  subject,  and  will  be  treated  in  their  proper 
place.  Having  endeavored  to  gain  a  clear  insight  into  the  nature 
of  these  estates,  and  their  relation  to  the  plan  of  salvation,  and 
to  the  person  and  work  of  Christ ;  it  is  necessary  to  point  out  in 
a  more  particular  manner,  those  circumstances  which  the  most 
distinctly  characterize  them  both,  and  invest  them  writh  such 
great  importance. 

2.  All  our  conceptions  of  the  humiliation  of  our  Saviour,  to 
approach  any  thing  like  truth,  must  start  with  the  recognition 
of  his  estate  before  he  took  flesh.  The  glory  of  which  he  emp- 
tied himself,  in  order  to  become  man,  was  indeed  a  glory  which 
we  cannot  fully  apprehend  ;  but  which  we  know  to  have  been 
the  highest  of  all  glory — for  it  was  the  glory  of  an  existence,  a 
dominion  and  a  blessedness  commensurate  with  that  of  God,  and 
essentially  identical  with  it.  How  much  is  involved  in  saying 
that  all  this  glory  was  obscured,  laid  aside,  put  off  in  the  very 


128  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

fact  of  any  incarnation — we  cannot  tell :  but  the  reason  why  we 
cannot  tell  is,  that  the  humiliation  exceeds  at  its  first  step,  all 
we  can  imagine,  much  less  utter.  Then  comes  the  particular 
form  of  the  incarnation  ;  and  another  step  to  a  lower  humiliation 
is  taken — in  that  the  nature  he  is  to  assume  is  a  nature  fallen 
and  depraved — a  nature  degraded  in  the  face  of  the  whole  uni- 
verse— a  nature  lying  under  the  curse  and  penalty  of  the  broken 
covenant  between  God  and  man.  Another  step  is  taken,  and  a 
new  humiliation  occurs,  in  all  that  was  peculiar  and  personal  in 
the  condition  as  a  man,  which  he  assumed,  and  in  which  he  lived 
and  died  :  a  condition  condemned  to  ignominy  as  a  Jew,  and  to 
toil,  privation  and  obscurity  as  a  man,  all  aggravated  by  his  illus- 
trious descent  from  a  long  line  of  kings,  and  by  the  insolent  do- 
minion of  foreign  rulers,  oppressing  him  and  his  people  from  the 
throne  of  his  ancestors.  Still  another  step  and  another  humilia- 
tion in  all  that  is  involved  in  his  being  made  under  the  law — his 
own  law :  not  only  that  law  given  to  sinful  men  as  a  rule  of 
duty  and  of  judgment,  in  itself  eternal,  but  all  those  j)eculiar  in- 
stitutions of  the  Jewish  people,  which  made  them  at  once  the 
most  peculiar  form  both  of  a  nation  and  a  church.  And  thus 
unutterably  humiliated  in  the  very  fact  and  method  of  his  incar- 
nation, his  whole  life  was  exposed  to  sorrows,  indignities,  and  suf- 
ferings, the  acuteness  of  which  was  for  beyond  our  conception  : 
one  perpetual  scene  of  contradiction  and  misconstruction  by  sinful 
men,  whose  very  companionship  was  a  ceaseless  trial  to  his  infi- 
nitely pure  spirit :  one  conflict  after  another  with  the  great  enemy 
of  God  and  man,  amidst  fierce  temptations,  and  fiery  trials,  and 
the  hidings  of  his  Father's  face,  and  agonies  which  even  inspired 
men  who  witnessed  them  strive  in  vain  adequately  to  depict. 
Yet  through  a  life  of  perfect  sufferings  he  was  shown  to  be  per- 
fect himself.  The  perfection  of  all  goodness  and  love,  the  per- 
fection of  all  wisdom  and  power,  the  perfection  of  all  purity  and 
righteousness,  the  perfection  of  all  majesty  and  glory — all  exhib- 
ited through  the  perfection  of  suffering,  during  a  life  ordained 
and  chosen  as  a  life  of  perfect  humiliation — unto  an  end  to  which 
nothing  but  such  a  life  could  lead.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  con- 
ception and  development  of  such  a  life  as  this,  wholly  without  a 
parallel  amongst  the  works  of  man  ;  and  the  relevancy  of  such  a 
life  to  the  salvation  of  men,  as  the  first  fundamental  point  in 
realizing  the  establishment  of  a  kingdom  at  once  infinitely  pure, 


CHAP.  X.]  THE    ESTATES    OF    CHRIST.  129 

universal  and  irresistible  ;  leads  ns  at  once  out  of  tlie  domain  of 
merely  human  things,  and  ushers  us  broadly  into  a  domain  which 
merely  human  thoughts  could  never  have  opened  to  us. 

3.  A  death  corresponding  to  such  a  life,  crowned  it.  We  are 
to  remember  that  he  was  not  subject  to  death,  being  sinless  :  and 
that  he  could  not  die  by  violence,  even  if  he  had  been  subject  to 
death,  without  his  own  consent,  since  he  was  divine.  But,  as 
the  righteousness  of  his  life  in  the  way  of  active  obedience  was 
indispensable  to  the  justification  of  his  followers,  so  also  was  the 
righteousness  of  his  death  as  a  sacrifice  for  their  sins  :  the 
righteousness,  in  both  cases,  of  the  God-man.  A  death  of  un- 
speakable humiliation  crowning  a  life  of  unspeakable  humilia- 
tion :  and  in  both  cases  a  climax  which  we  can  trace,  but  far 
more  terrible  than  we  can  comprehend.  That  he  should  incur 
the  stroke  of  death  at  all  was  an  infinite  humiliation  ;  and 
that  he  should  lie  under  the  power  of  it  for  one  instant  was  a 
fearful  aggravation  of  that  humiliation.  For  death  is  the  fruit 
of  sin  ;  and  he  wTho  hath  the  power  of  death  is  the  devil ;  and 
it  is  through  the  law  that  sin  becomes  the  sting  of  death.  Here- 
in  lay  the  stupendous  mystery — that  death  is  conquerred  by 
incurring  its  stroke,  that  sin  is  atoned  for  by  enduring  its  penalty, 
that  the  law  is  satisfied  by  fulfilling  it  even  to  blood — that  Satan 
is  vanquished  in  the  very  act  of  his  apparent  triumph.  But  it  is 
not  less  a  stupendous  mystery  of  humiliation,  than  of  wisden  or 
love.  And  so  the  death  itself  is  aggravated  by  every  circum- 
stance of  cruelty,  ignominy  and  shame.  Rejected  by  the  people 
whose  king  he  was — sold  at  the  price  of  a  servant  by  one  of  his 
own  apostles — delivered  up  as  an  impostor  and  a  blasphemer  by 
the  proper  authorities  of  the  visible  church  of  God — condemned 
as  a  traitor  by  the  Roman  governor  in  obedience  to  the  furious 
clamor  of  the  Jewish  people — denied  or  deserted  by  nearly  all 
his  immediate  followers — he  wras  buffeted,  scourged,  spit  upon, 
and  led  to  the  most  horrible  death,  under  the  scoffs  and  derision 
of  men,  and  the  hiding  of  God's  face  from  him.  The  bitterest 
cry  that  human  ears  have  ever  heard,  was  that  cry  from  the  cross 
— Eloi,  Eloi,  lama  sabachthani !  And  we  may  confidently  assert, 
that  except  upon  the  simple  basis  of  the  facts  as  set  forth  in  the 
Scriptures,  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ,  taken  in  all  its  cir- 
cumstances, is  the  very  darkest  spot  in  the  whole  compass  of 
God's  dealings  with  the  human  race.     Accepted  as  the  means — 

9 


130  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

the  only  means — of  salvation  to  man  ;  accepted  as  the  means — 
the  very  highest  means — of  glorifying  God  throughout  eternity  ; 
then  we  understand  it  all — and  it  becomes  illustrious  as  a  display 
of  God's  redeeming  love,  precisely  as  it  becomes  overwhelming  as 
a  proof  of  Christ's  utter  humiliation.  Wrested  from  their  true 
intent,  these  dealings  of  God  become  appalling :  accepted  in 
their  simple  and  awful  majesty,  they  are  full  of  unsearchable 
riches  of  grace. 

4.  We  cannot  separate  either  the  life  or  the  death  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  from  the  office  which  he  executed  both  in  his  life 
and  in  his  death  :  for  the  very  object  of  his  incarnation  was 
to  execute  that  office.  He  became  Immanuel,  precisely  that  he 
might  become  Mediator  :  and  his  whole  humiliation  is  the  humil- 
iation of  the  Word  made  flesh.  But  herein  is  a  new  source  of 
humiliation.  Every  thing  involved  in  his  assuming  and  executing 
the  office  of  Mediator,  is  of  itself  a  humiliation  just  so  far  as  it 
identifies  him  with  man,  or  makes  him  responsible,  in  the  face 
of  the  universe,  for  the  fate  of  man.  The  brotherhood  of  such 
a  race  is  ignominy  enough.  But  it  is  infinitely  more  to  incur  the 
guilt  of  their  imputed  sins — to  bring  down  on  his  head  the  wrath 
of  God  because  he  stood  in  their  place — to  expose  himself  for 
them  to  the  malice  of  the  Devil,  to  the  claims  of  the  law,  to  the 
power  of  the  grave — to  place  himself  in  a  position  where  his  very 
office  would  demand  that  our  offences  should  cause  his  death, 
and  that  our  justification  by  God  should  be  the  condition  of  his 
resurrection.1  Here  was  a  spectacle  for  men  and  angels  and 
devils,  the  most  amazing  that  ever  was  or  could  be,  whether  it  is 
considered  in  itself,  or  whether  it  is  considered  relatively  to  what 
he  was  as  a  perfect  man,  or  relatively  to  his  person  as  God-man, 
or  to  his  work  as  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  or  to  his  own 
eternal  God-head  as  the  divine  Word.  A  life  of  humiliation — a 
death  of  humiliation — an  office  of  humiliation  !  On  every  side 
infinite  humiliation  :  and  yet  on  every  side  infinite  grounds  on 
which  to  judge,  that  all  humiliation  was  in  itself  impossible.  No 
statement  can  express,  nor  can  any  heart  adequately  conceive, 
the  extent  of  the  humiliation  of  Christ.  And  yet,  except  as  the 
humiliation  of  Christ  enters  into  the  very  essence  of  God's  plan 
of  saving  sinners,  and  except  as  the  reality  and  the  efficacy  of 
that  humiliation  are  beyond  all  doubt,  the  very  life  of  the  whole 

1  Rom.,  iv.  25. 


CHAP.  X.J  THE     ESTATES    OF     CHRIST.  131 

method  of  divine  grace  ;  no  heart  can  conceive  why  Christ  should 
have  been  humiliated  at  all,  while  every  heart  can  suggest  ten 
thousand  reasons  against  it,  if  it  were  possible  to  consider  it 
either  needless  or  unfruitful. 

III.  The  Estate  of  Christ's  exaltation,  attaches  to  him  as 
God-man,  and  so  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  in  the  same 
manner  as  it  has  just  been  shown  that  his  estate  of  humiliation 
does.  What  we  consider  and  treat  herein  as  one  single  estate,  is 
divided  by  the  Saviour  in  the  Doxology  heretofore  expounded, 
into  two  estates  ;  namely,  the  first  of  power,  the  second  of  glory. 
It  is  enough  to  say  at  present,  that  the  first,  second,  and  third 
subdivisions  of  this  general  head,  embrace  the  kingdom  with 
power :  while  the  fourth  subdivision  embraces  the  kingdom  with 
glory  ;  all  constituting  the  Exaltation  of  Christ. 

1.  In  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  the  Lord  Jesus  con- 
quered death,  and  broke  the  power  thereof,  and  delivered  them 
who  had  been  in  bondage  through  the  fear  of  death.  Free  from 
sin — he  never  saw  corruption  :  but  made  an  open  demonstration 
that  he  was  the  Son  of  God  with  power  in  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead.  He  proved  that  divine  justice  was  satisfied  :  that  the 
elect  of  God  were  justified  :  that  he  wdio  had  the  power  of  death, 
that  is  the  Devil,  was  subdued  :  and  that  in  and  by  his  own  res- 
urrection, all  men  would  rise  from  the  dead — and  of  that  num- 
ber, his  own  brethren  to  eternal  glory.  God,  in  the  resurrection  of 
his  Son,  gave  a  divine  and  immediate  attestation  to  him  as  the 
Saviour  of  the  World — ratifying  thereby  eveiy  part  of  his  previous 
ministry — proving  him  to  be  the  Lord  of  the  living  and  the  dead 
—  the  judge  of  the  world — the  head  of  the  church,  and  as  such 
invested  with  all  power  in  heaven  and  upon  earth  !  How  bound- 
less and  how  overwhelming  are  all  the  questions  solved  forever  by 
this  first  step  in  the  exaltation  of  Christ  !  How  clear  and  per- 
fect is  the  light  thrown  over  the  greatest  and  the  darkest  prob- 
lems which  the  shadow  of  death  had  covered  throughout  all  ages  ! 
And  is  it  not  fit  it  should  be  so  ?  Is  it  not  most  becoming  ? 
The  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God — his  resurrection  from  the 
dead — and  his  second  coming  to  judge  the  world — the  kingdom, 
the  power  and  the  glory  of  the  Mediator :  these  are  the  three 
grand  and  closing  eras  of  the  Messianic  kingdom.  The  second 
of  the  three  we  have  now  seen  accomplished  :  the  first  was  very 


132  ,  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

nearly  connected  with  it :  the  third  still  impends  over  us,  after 
the  lapse  of  so  many  centuries. 

2.  The  ascension  of  the  Lord  up  into  glory  was  the  next  step 
in  his  exaltation.  David  foretelling  the  triumphant  ascent  of 
the  Lord  on  high,  and  applying  to  him  the  language  quoted  by 
Paul  when  explaining  to  the  saints  at  Ephesus  the  nature  of 
Christ's  ascension  gifts  ;l  intimates  that  thousands  of  chariots 
and  of  angels,  even  as  they  surrounded  the  Lord  on  Sinai  should 
bear  him  to  the  skies.  And  so,  doubtless,  the  cloud  which  re- 
ceived him  out  of  the  sight  of  his  apostles,  as  he  was  rapt  from 
their  presence  upon  Olivet,  was  this  glorious  retinue  of  the  heav- 
enly hosts  marshalling  back  the  Son  of  God  victorious  over  the 
grave.2  What  a  day  was  that  in  heaven  !  The  glory  of  the  Son 
no  longer  veiled  from  the  spirits  around  the  throne.  Captivity 
itself  led  captive — Christ  openly  triumphing  over  his  enemies  far 
above  all  heavens — and  openly  lavishing  upon  his  elect  Bride, 
the  most  costly  and  precious  gifts.  To  prepare  a  place  for  his 
brethren,  and  to  prepare  a  place  for  himself,  at  God's  right  hand, 
till  the  restitution  of  all  things  ;  these  are  the  immediate  objects 
of  that  sublime  return  to  glory.3  In  our  nature,  and  as  our  head 
— glorified  and  making  manifest  in  the  heavens  the  glory  to  be 
hereafter  made  manifest  upon  earth  ;  the  special  form  of  his  tri- 
umphant ascent  to  the  realms  of  light,  is  the  open  recovery  of 
his  visible  dominion  over  the  angelic  hosts,  his  open  leading  cap- 
tive him  who  had  before  led  all  captive,  and  his  open  bestow- 
mcnt  of  all  his  ascension  gifts  on  men.  About  to  sit  down  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  his  return  thither  is  sig- 
nalized with  glory,  with  triumph,  and  with  gifts,  worthy  of  the 
King  eternal,  immortal,  and  invisible  ! 

3.  And  then  he  sits  down  beside  the  Father  on  his  throne — a 
Prince  and  a  Saviour,  exalted  to  give  repentance  to  Israel  and 
the  remission  of  sins.  That  same  Jesus,  whom  with  wicked 
hands  they  crucified  and  slew,  hath  God  made  both  Lord  and 
Christ.  And  from  the  highest  heaven  he  proclaims, — To  him 
that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  sit  with  me  in  my  throne,  even  as 
I  also  overcame,  and  am  set  down  with  my  Father  in  his  throne.4 
The  God-man  is  exalted  to  the  highest  dominion  and  power  and 
glory  and  joy,  over  the  whole  universe.     He  sheds  forth,  with  the 

1  Psalm  lxviii.  11,  18;  Eph.,  iv.  8,  11-13.  3  Acta,  i.  9-12. 

'  John,  xiv.  2-4 ;  Acta,  iii.  21.  4  Rev.,  iii.  21. 


CHAP.  X.]  THE   ESTATES   OF   CHRIST.  133 

Father,  the  Holy  Ghost — his  vicar  in  his  kingdom  with  power — 
his  everlasting  justifier — the  witness  of  him  in  his  person,  his 
office,  his  work,  and  his  estate,  and  the  channel  to  men  of  a  new 
life,  of  all  truth,  of  all  holiness,  and  of  every  good  and  perfect 
gift  purchased  by  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  For  himself, 
he  is  the  satisfying  portion  of  all  who  have  rested  from  their 
labors  :  the  perpetual  intercessor  for  all  who  are  still  in  the  vale 
of  tears  :  the  only  King  in  Zion  :  the  Ruler  of  the  universe  : 
the  Lord  of  lords,  and  the  God  of  gods  !  Thus  far  has  the  Dis- 
pensation of  Christ  advanced  in  its  infinite  and  eternal  progress. 
At  this  point  it  stands  and  will  stand  till  the  second  coming  of 
the  Lord,  if  it  may  be  conceded  to  human  weakness  to  contem- 
plate as  in  repose,  an  infinite  activity  operating  throughout  the 
universe  with  a  force  at  once  ceaseless  and  divine  ;  but  operating 
after  a  method  peculiar  to  itself  and  different  from  the  method 
that  preceded  it,  and  that  will  follow  it.  The  aspect  of  the 
kingdom  in  this  world  has  always  an  analogy  in  the  aspect  of  it 
in  the  unseen  world  :  and  the  analogy  to  that  unseen  aspect  of 
it,  represented  by  the  reign  of  Christ  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father,  is  the  Dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  with  power  in  the 
kingdom  here  below.     It  is  that  which  now  exists. 

4.  If  we  could  allow  ourselves,  for  a  moment,  to  suppose  that 
the  plan  of  salvation  revealed  in  the  Scriptures  was  purely  of 
human  conception  ;  it  seems  to  me  that  nothing  is  more  certain 
than  that  the  mind  of  man  would  have  considered  the  catastro- 
phe fully  reached,  and  the  matter  absolutely  complete,  when  the 
main  figure  was  exalted  to  the  throne  of  the  universe,  and  the 
main  action  accomplished  in  a  complete  provision  for  the  per- 
petual salvation  of  successive  generations  of  men,  through  all 
time.  To  man,  the  subject  is  exhausted,  and  everything  is 
dramatically  complete,  when  Christ  has  been  infinitely  exalted, 
and  every  dependent  event  has  been  perfectly  solved.  But  God's 
thoughts  are  not  as  our  thoughts.  And  so  the  conception  which 
Christ  gives  us  of  the  consummation  of  his  kingdom,  reveals  to 
us  a  further  aspect  of  it,  when  his  exaltation  shall  have  a  new 
manifestation,  and  the  great  glory  of  that  kingdom  find  its  ex- 
pression in  his  own  second  coming,  without  sin,  unto  salvation. 
Time  is  to  have  an  end  :  the  dead  are  to  arise  :  every  soul  of 
man  is  to  be  judged.  The  earth  is  to  be  burned  up,  and  the  fir- 
mament is  to  melt  with  fervent  heat,  and  the  heavens  are  to  be 


134  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

rolled  together  as  a  scroll  and  a  new  earth  and  a  new  heavens  are 
to  emerge  :  Satan  is  to  be  bound  for  a  thousand  years  and  then 
to  be  loosed  for  a  little  season,  and  then  to  be  cast  into  the  lake 
of  fire — where  death  itself  shall  die.  There  is  to  be  a  kingdom 
of  infinite  glory  and  blessedness  :  and  then  it  is  to  be  delivered 
by  Christ  to  the  Father.  We  may  dispute,  as  we  like,  over  these 
sublime  realities,  and  we  may  group  them,  and  expound  them, 
one  way  and  another,  to  suit  our  own  foregone  conclusions.  But 
still  they  are  realities  which  no  man  can  call  himself  a  Christian, 
and  deny.  And  in  the  midst  of  them  all,  always,  the  Scriptures 
exhibit  to  us  the  Son  of  Man,  in  unutterable  glory,  surrounded 
by  all  his  holy  angels,  perfecting  and  reigning  over  his  king- 
dom, distributing  immortal  crowns  to  his  followers,  and  taking 
immortal  vengeance  on  his  enemies.  Preliminary,  it  may  be,  to 
these  stupendous  events,  there  are  others  less  imposing,  but  still 
only  less  imposing  than  they,  which  are  also  to  receive  a  solution 
which  the  Scriptures  uniformly  connect  with  the  person  and 
glory  of  Christ,  in  his  second  coming.  The  question  of  God's 
ancient  people — the  question  of  the  heathen  world — the  question 
of  the  great  Eastern  apostacy — the  question  of  the  still  greater 
"Western  apostacy — the  question  of  the  World  powers — the  ques- 
tion of  the  Bride  of  the  Lamb,  till  that  great  day  shall  come  ! 
Who  can  imagine  the  glory  of  Messiah — who  can  conceive  of  his 
exaltation — when  he  shall  take  to  himself  his  great  power,  and 
in  his  own  glory  and  the  glory  of  the  Father,  reappear  in  the 
midst  of  such  a  scene  of  things  ?  Or  how  shall  we  lift  up  our 
hearts  to  that  height  he  will  have  reached,  when  his  whole  Me- 
diatorial work  is  thoroughly  completed,  and  the  kingdom  is 
delivered  up  to  the  Father — and  Messiah,  as  very  God,  all  and  in 
all,  thenceforward  throughout  eternity,  shall  draw  still  nigher  to  the 
glorified  saints,  and  reign  still  more  palpably  over  the  universe, 
which  he  created,  which  Satan  and  sin  had  mined — which  he  had 
in  a  manner  so  glorious  and  so  wonderful,  redeemed,  recovered, 
restituted,  recapitulated  in  himself !  What  is  man  that  he 
should  sit  in  judgment  upon  revelations  like  these — penetrating 
the  most  august  counsels  of  Jehovah,  and  delivered  to  us,  for  the 
most  part,  in  fragments  and  outlines,  too  remote  and  too  vast 
almost  for  distinct  comprehension  ? 

IV. — 1.  On  the  day  on  which  the  blessed  Lord  rose  from  the 
dead,  he  joined  himself  to  two  of  his  disciples  as  they  walked 


CHAP.  X.]  THE     ESTATES     OF     CHRIST.  135 

from  Jerusalem  to  Ernmaus,  and  their  eyes  being  holden  that 
they  should  not  know  him,  he  communed  with  them  of  the  mat- 
ters immediately  relating  to  himself.  When  they  had  uttered 
what  was  in  their  hearts,  he  said  to  them,  Oh  !  fools  and  slow  of 
heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets  have  spoken  :  ought  not 
Christ  to  have  suffered  these  things,  and  to  enter  into  his  glory  ? 
And  beginning  at  Moses  and  all  the  prophets,  he  expounded 
unto  them  in  all  the  Scriptures,  the  things  concerning  himself.1 
It  is  not,  therefore,  without  an  infinite  necessity  of  some  kind, 
that  Christ  was  both  humiliated  and  exalted.  There  was  a 
"  needs  be"  recognized  and  enforced  by  Christ  himself,  both  that 
he  should  suffer  as  he  did,  and  that  he  should  enter  into  his 
glory. 

2.  The  most  obvious  form  of  that  "needs  be,"  is  immediately 
suggested  by  the  words  of  Christ.  All  the  prophets  had  so  de- 
clared ;  and  their  words  must  be  fulfilled.  The  plan  they 
revealed,  was  the  plan  adopted  by  God,  and  the  plan  adopted  by 
God  must  be  accomplished.  His  wisdom  in  adopting  it,  and  his 
veracity  in  proclaiming  it,  alike  rendered  its  accomplishment  an  in- 
evitable necessity.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  imagine  a  more  distinct 
assurance  than  is  here  given  by  the  Saviour,  of  the  divine  reality 
and  the  divine  certainty  of  all  that  is  written  in  the  Jewish 
Scriptures.  Still,  this  obvious  view  goes  much  deeper.  For  it  is 
no  more  certain  that  what  is  revealed  is  true,  than  it  is  certain 
that  it  is  revealed  because  it  was  both  true  and  certain.  This 
humiliation  and  this  exaltation  of  Messiah,  must  needs  be  ;  and 
therefore  all  the  prophets  have  said  so.  Strictly  speaking,  salva- 
tion is  of  grace,  and  thus  in  a  certain  sense,  there  is  no  necessity 
that  any  salvation  should  be  provided :  while  yet,  in  another 
sense,  grace  itself  is  of  the  very  nature  of  God,  and  for  that 
reason  there  is  salvation.  If  any  way  of  salvation  at  all — then 
of  necessity,  the  way  that  is  most  suitable  to  all  the  divine  per- 
fections, and  that  is  most  for  the  glory  of  God  :  that  is  to  say, 
the  way  that  is  best.  And  so  revelation  itself  can  make  known 
to  us,  only  the  right,  the  proper,  the  best,  and  in  that  sense  the 
necessary.  We  may  go  further  and  say,  we  are  not  able  to  con- 
ceive how  it  was  possible  for  man  to  be  saved  in  any  other  way, 
or  upon  any  other  conditions  :  and  we  may  add  that  no  other 
way  has  been  intimated  by  God  as  possible,  but  on  the  other 

1  Luke,  xxiv.  13-27. 


136  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

hand  the  Scriptures  abundantly  assure  us,  that  there  is  no  other 
way  :  which  has  been  proved  in  another  place.  Taking  the  case, 
therefore,  just  as  it  is  presented  throughout  the  Scriptures  :  con- 
sidering the  nature  of  God  as  it  is  therein  revealed  to  us,  and  the 
whole  question  of  salvation  as  therein  developed  :  there  is  that 
infinite  fitness  both  in  the  humiliation  and  the  exaltation  of 
Christ,  which  constitutes  in  a  divine  sense,  the  very  highest 
"  needs  be."  It  became  him  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by 
whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make 
the  Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings.1  And 
such  a  High  Priest  became  us,  who  is  holy,  harmless,  undefilecl, 
separate  from  sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the  heavens.2 

3.  Perhaps,  also,  after  it  has  been  made  known  to  us  by  God 
both  that  he  will  save  sinners,  and  how  he  will  save  them  :  and 
after  we  have  come  to  apprehend  in  some  good  degree,  the  nature 
and  perfections  of  God — and  the  results,  on  either  hand,  of  his 
interposing  to  save  man,  or  of  his  refusal  to  interpose  :  we  are  in 
a  position  to  comprehend  that  the  free,  sovereign,  and  gracious 
interposition  of  God,  precisely  in  the  manner  he  has  interposed, 
was  an  inevitable  part  of  that  eternal  Decree  of  God,  whereby 
he  works  all  things  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will.  In 
such  a  crisis,  of  such  a  universe,  under  the  dominion  of  such  a 
God,  the  overwhelming  "  needs  be"  is  for  such  an  interposition, 
after  such  a  method.  I  have  pointed  out  in  another  place,  how 
it  is  the  infinite  goodness  of  God,  which  amongst  all  his  perfec- 
tions lies  at  the  foundation  of  every  hope  of  salvation,  which  the 
sinner,  personally  considered,  could  cherish.  But  we  now  en- 
counter a  wider  aspect  of  this  vast  subject :  and  I  may  add  a 
few  words  in  further  illustration  of  the  remarkable  language  of 
the  Saviour,  bearing  directly  on  it. 

4.  We  are  to  consider  the  manner  in  which  man  fell — the 
manner  in  which  he  was  tempted — the  motives  which  overcame 
him.  We  are  to  consider  the  relations  which  both  Eve  who 
tempted  Adam,  and  Satan  who  tempted  Eve,  bore  both  to  Adam 
and  to  God.  We  are  to  consider  that,  on  supposition  of  God's 
refusal  to  interpose,  Satan  was  completely  triumphant,  sin  and 
misery  became  the  everlasting  condition  of  the  universe,  the  hu- 
man race  became  forever  unfit  for  the  destiny  designed  for  them 
in  their  creation,  and  the  glory  of  God  in  the  illustration  of  his 

>  Heb.,  ii.  10.  *  Heb.,  vii.  26. 


CnAP.  X.]  THE     ESTATES    OF     CHRIST.  137 

perfections  became  limited  and  obscured.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  are  to  consider,  that  on  supposition  of  God's  effectual  inter- 
position, Satan  would  be  vanquished,  sin  and  misery  would  be 
restrained  and  turned  to  the  glory  of  God — death  would  be 
abolished — the  universe  would  be  purged  and  restored  to  the  do- 
minion of  God — the  human  race  would  be  recovered  and  advanced 
in  purity  and  blessedness — and  all  the  perfections  of  God  would 
be  displayed  in  the  most  illustrious  manner,  to  his  own  infinite 
and  eternal  glory.  All  these  are  considerations  clearly  arising 
from  the  statements  of  the  Word  of  God  ;  and  the  problem  in- 
volved in  them  had  this  solution  which  is  presented  in  the  plan 
of  salvation  :  that  is,  summarily  stated  with  reference  to  the 
matter  under  our  immediate  consideration,  in  the  Humiliation 
and  Exaltation  of  Christ.  With  reference  to  his  Exaltation, 
touching  which  the  "needs  be"  involved  in  the  language  of  the 
Saviour  was  especially  emphatic  ;  there  is  no  difficulty  in  per- 
ceiving, that  after  his  Humiliation  had  actually  occurred,  his 
Exaltation  was  an  absolute  and  unavoidable  necessity.  For  any 
other  supposition  than  that  the  risen  Lord  ought  to  enter  into 
his  glory,  involves  the  whole  case  in  self-contradiction  ;  for  the 
fact  of  any  Humiliation  is  dependent  upon  the  fact  of  his  being 
a  divine  person  ;  and  if  that  is  true  his  Exaltation  is  not  only 
infinitely  fit  but  absolutely  inevitable — while  if  it  is  false,  there 
was  no  Humiliation,  and  the  whole  case  falls  into  hopeless  ab- 
surdity. 

5.  Now,  upon  the  supposition  of  the  whole  case  between  God 
and  men  as  it  stands  up  to  this  point,  the  relevancy  and  com- 
pleteness of  this  method  of  developing  the  whole  Office-work  of 
Christ  as  Mediator,  by  means  of  his  two  estates  of  Humiliation 
and  Exaltation,  are  not  only  perfectly  obvious  ;  but  the  whole 
case  after  getting  to  this  point,  breaks  down  of  itself,  unless  it  is 
allowed  to  progress  by  some  method  of  exposition  essentially  in- 
volving the  same  principles  and  the  same  results  touching  the 
Mediatorial  office  and  work  of  Christ,  considered  as  a  suffering, 
and  considered  also  as  a  triumphant  Saviour.  The  whole  con- 
troversy between  us  and  God,  is  infinitely  to  our  dishonor,  and 
must  end  in  our  destruction.  And  so  every  Mediator  must  find, 
and  must  decide.  Unless,  therefore,  he  is  both  able  and  willing 
— after  deciding  against  us,  to  do  something  that  will  save  us  ; 
we  are  ruined,  and  the  Mediation  breaks  down,  as  to  any  attain- 


138  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  It. 

ment  of  its  fundamental  design,  namely,  peace  between  us  and 
God.  But  the  Mediator  does  undertake  for  us  :  and  what  he 
does  in  both  estates,  is  the  result  of  that  undertaking  :  and  the 
whole  is  perfectly  relevant  to  his  Office  and  Person  and  Work,  so 
far  as  we  are  concerned — if  it  only  prove  effectual.  That  it  does 
so,  is  what  makes  the  plan  of  salvation  of  inestimable  value  to 
us.  As  relates  to  the  Mediator  himself,  everything  depends  upon 
his  willingness  and  his  ability  to  reconcile  us  to  God  upon  the 
terms  everywhere  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures  ;  and  which  as  to 
the  Mediator,  have  been  summarily  recounted  in  this  chapter. 
If  he  is  willing  and  able  to  obey  and  suffer  for  us  ;  if  he  is  will- 
ing and  able  to  present  us  faultless  before  God  :  then  the  whole 
design  of  the  Mediation  can  be  perfectly  accomplished — and  his 
wiiole  Humiliation  and  his  whole  Exaltation,  are  perfectly  rele- 
vant to  that  design,  and  perfectly  complete  in  themselves.  On 
his  part,  it  is  a  work  of  boundless  love.  As  relates  to  God — we 
are  to  remember  that  the  Mediator  is  his  only  begotten  Son  ; 
and  that  he  spared  not  this  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us 
all.1  It  is  well  for  us  to  speak  of  the  need  there  was  that 
God's  justice  should  be  satisfied,  that  his  law  should  be  mag- 
nified, that  his  righteous  dominion  should  be  restored.  But 
the  things  that  shine  most  conspicuously  in  the  sufferings  and 
the  triumph  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  are  the  eternal  Benefi- 
cence of  God,  and  his  eternal  love  for  us  in  which  it  finds  ex- 
pression, through  every  part  of  the  Mediatorial  work  and  reign 
of  his  Son,  our  Lord  !  The  deeper  the  humiliation  of  the  Son 
of  God,  the  more  intense  is  the  proof  of  that  amazing  love 
which  the  Father  has  bestowed  on  us ;  and  the  higher  the  ex- 
altation of  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  the  more  illustrious  is  the 
assurance,  that  he  who  gave  us  Christ,  will  with  him  freely  give 
us  all  things  ! 

1  Rom.  viii.  32. 


CHAPTER   XL 

OFFICES  EXECUTED  BY  THE  MEDIATOR :— CHRIST  THE  GREAT 
TEACHER. 

I.  1.  The  threefold  office  of  Christ,  as  Mediator  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace. — 2.  He  is 
our  Prophet,  our  Priest,  and  our  King. — 3.  These  offices  perfectly  distinct,  but  in- 
dissolubly  united  to  each  other  in  the  person  of  Christ. — L  The  glory  and  the 
burden  of  these  united  offices,  which  the  Son  of  God  humbled  himself  to  execute. 
— 5.  The  order  of  their  execution. — II.  1.  The  Prophetic  office  of  Christ  espec- 
ially considered. — 2.  Idea  of  it,  stated  by  God  through  Moses  and  the  ancient 
prophets. — 3.  Illimitable  power  appertains  to  this  office  in  Christ. — 4.  Divine  wis- 
dom appertains  to  it. — 5.  The  great  Teacher  is  true  God. — III.  The  actual  teach- 
ing of  Christ. — 1.  Always  and  under  all  Dispensations  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace, 
Christ  the  fountain  of  all  truth  unto  salvation. — 2.  Christ  is  not  only  entitled  to 
the  glory,  and  respons'ble  for  the  truth  and  efficacy  of  all  Scripture :  He  is  him- 
self the  concrete  of  it  all. — 3.  The  manner  in  which  his  personal  teaching,  devel- 
oped, fulfilled,  and  supplemented  all  that  was  known  before. — i.  The  sublime  con- 
ception that  truth  must  supplant  force,  and  teaching  supplant  violence,  as  the 
means  of  universal  conquest,  is  the  key  of  Christ's  ministry. — 5.  The  habit  and 
power  of  Christ  as  a  teacher. — 6.  Christ's  method  as  a  teacher — parables — analy- 
sis and  illustration  of  them. — 7.  Christ's  prophetic  office  in  his  estato  of  exaltation. 
The  power  of  the  "Word  and  ordinances.  The  perpetual  presence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. — IV.  Divine  confirmation  of  the  prophetic  office  of  Christ. — 1.  The  gen- 
eral testimony  of  the  life  of  Christ — the  direct  testimony  of  the  Scriptures — the 
proof  from  prophecy  and  the  internal  evidences  suggested. — 2.  Taking  the  Scrip- 
tures as  a  whole,  the  relation  of  Christ  to  their  total  contents  renders  the  divinity 
of  his  prophetic  office  an  unavoidable  necessity. — 3.  Everything  concerning 
Christ  and  the  Scriptures  is  explicable  and  glorious  or  inexplicable  and  monstrous 
— according  as  he  was  or  was  not  a  teacher  sent  from  God. — 4.  The  miracles  of 
Christ. — (a.)  Their  suprising  number. — (b.)  This  power  absolute  and  unlimited  in 
Christ :  and  derived  from  him  by  all  others  whoever  possessed  it. — (c.)  So  per- 
formed as  to  exhibit  his  dominion  over  the  whole  universe — and  his  possession  of 
every  divine  attribute. — (d.)  The  substance  of  the  way  of  life  as  taught  by  Christ, 
may  be  deduced  from  Christ's  miracles  and  the  Scripture  account  of  them. — 5. 
The  divine  nature  of  the  question  herein  discussed. 

I. — 1.  As  the  Mediator  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  alike  in 
his  estate  of  Humiliation  and  in  his  estate  of  Exaltation,  Christ 
in  all  the  glory,  and  all  the  burden  of  his  office,  was  as  one  ex- 


140  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

pressly  called  thereto  of  God.1  Possessed  of  infinite  power  and 
acting  under  the  commandment  of  the  Father'2  he  was  at  last 
unspeakably  exalted  by  him,  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the 
church  which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all.3 
While  his  office  carried  with  it  in  one  respect  an  infinite  honor — 
it  carried  also  an  infinite  burden.  To  teach  his  church  all  that 
it  was  needful  for  it  to  know — but  to  do  this,  in  great  part,  under 
infinite  humiliation  :  to  reconcile  us  to  God,  and  acquire  thereby 
the  highest  glory  and  joy,  but  to  accomplish  this  by  the  sacrifice 
of  himself:  to  conquer  and  to  establish  for  himself  an  endless 
kingdom,  but  to  endure  everything  in  the  accomplishment  of  this 
sublime  work.  The  whole  work  of  Christ  is  performed  as  Medi- 
ator of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  :  he  performed  the  whole  of  it  as 
a  suffering  or  as  a  triumphant  Saviour  :  and  in  both  these  estates 
it  is  liable  to  a  threefold  division  according  as  we  contemplate 
him  as  our  Teacher,  as  our  Atoning  Sacrifice,  or  as  our  Lord  and 
Master. 

2.  Considered  in  this  light  the  whole  work  which  Christ 
perforins  for  his  people,  as  their  Mediator  with  God,  he  performs 
as  their  Prophet,  as  their  Priest,  or  as  their  King.  In  discharg- 
ing his  office  as  Mediator,  whether  reference  be  had  to  God  or  to 
man,  as  the  parties  to  the  Mediation,  which,  through  infinite 
grace  has  been  undertaken  by  him  :  or  to  the  two  estates  of  Hu- 
miliation and  Exaltation,  in  which  he  executes  that  office  ;  every 
function  which  he  performs  must  be  referred  to  him  as  the  Pro- 
phet, as  the  Priest,  or  as  the  King  constituted  by  the  Covenant 
of  Grace — and  accomplishing  its  unsearchable  mercy.  His  gen- 
eral office  of  Mediator,  therefore,  becomes  subdivided  into  his 
Prophetic,4  his  Priestly,5  and  his  Kingly0  offices.7 

3.  These  offices  of  Christ  though  united  in  his  person,  are 
perfectly  distinct  in  their  own  nature  ;  and  the  contemplation 
of  his  Mediatorial  work  as  performed  for  us,  through  them,  is  in- 
dispensable to  the  clear  understanding  of  the  Scriptures — which 
constantly  present  it  to  us  in  this  manner.  Nor  is  there  any 
method  of  evading  or  altogether  setting  aside  the  teachings  of 
God's  word  touching  the  person  and  work  of  Christ,  and  the 
benefits  secured  to  us  by  the   Covenant  of  Redemption,  more 

1  Heb.,  v.  4,  5.  a  John,  x.  18.  3  Eph.,  i.  23. 

*  Deut,  xviii.  15-18  ;  Luke,  xxiv.  19.         6  Psalm  ex.  4,  and  Heb.,  v.  5. 

fi  Psalm  ii.  G,  and  Mat.,  ii.  2.  *  Psalm  ex.  2-4,  and  Heb.,  i.  1-3. 


CHAP.  XI.]        CHRIST    THE    GREAT    TEACHER.  141 

common,  or  more  insidious,  than  that  of  confounding  these  offices 
of  the  Mediator  with  each  other,  and  so  obscuring  and  rejecting 
the  great  doctrines  of  grace  which  they  illustrate  and  confirm. 
On  the  other  hand,  these  offices  of  Christ,  though  perfectly  dis- 
tinct are  no  more  to  be  disconnected  than  they  are  to  be  con- 
founded :  just  as  the  two  natures  in  the  person  of  Christ,  are 
neither  to  be  confounded  nor  disconnected.  It  is  the  same  Christ, 
the  only  Mediator,  who  performs  them  all.  It  is  for  the  same 
general  assembly  of  the  first  born  -whose  names  are  written  in 
heaven,  that  they  are  performed.  It  is  unto  the  same  end — the 
salvation  of  believers  that  he  executes  them  all.  And  it  is 
through  the  same  ministry  in  the  flesh,  and  the  exaltation  and 
reign  afterwards,  that,  by  means  of  these  functions  of  the  office 
of  Mediator  discharged  by  Christ,  God  and  men  are  reconciled, 
and  that  eternal  salvation  is  secured  to  us.  It  is  Christ  Jesus, 
who  of  God  is  made  unto  us,  wisdom  and  righteousness,  and 
sanctification  and  redemption.1 

4.  The  inexpressible  dignity  conferred  upon  the  Mediatorial 
office,  as  well  as  the  glory  and  burden  of  the  work,  from  the 
union  of  these  three  functions  in  it — is  such,  that  of  all  who 
have  been  types  of  Christ,  whether  as  to  his  person,  his  work  or 
his  office,  not  one  is  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures  as  being  invested 
with  the  full  discharge  of  them  all— much  less  with  the  regular 
possession  of  them.  There  were  those  who  were  at  once  prophets 
and  kings  :  of  whom  David  and  Solomon  were  the  most  eminent. 
There  were  those  who  were  both  kings  and  priests  :  of  whom  the 
most  remarkable  was  Melchizedec.  And  there  were  many  who 
were  both  priests  and  prophets  ;  of  whom,  perhaps,  were  all  the 
High  Priests  who  answered  for  God  to  the  people,  by  Urim  and 
Thummim.  But  to  be  prophet  and  priest  and  king  all  together, 
even  in  such  a  sense  as  would  present  only  a  perfect  type  of  the 
whole  office  which  Christ  was  to  humble  himself  so  as  to  dis- 
charge, was  never  permitted  to  the  children  of  men.  Moses  and 
after  him  Samuel,  the  two  most  illustrious  men  that  preceded 
Jesus  of  Nazareth — and  the  former  by  far  the  more  illustrious 
of  the  two — made  the  nearest  approach  that  has  existed  towards 
exhibiting  to  us,  in  dim  outline,  a  type  of  those  offices,  all  of 
which  are  united  only  in  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God,  as  the 
Saviour  of  the  world. 

•  1  Cor.,  i.  30. 


142  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

5.  In  respect  of  the  relevancy  of  these  offices  of  Christ,  to 
the  parties  who,  so  to  speak,  were  involved  in  the  result  of  his 
Mediation,  it  is  ohvious  that  his  priestly  office  had  a  more  direct 
relevancy  to  God,  who  by  means  of  it  especially  was  propitiated 
towards  man  :  and  that  his  prophetic  and  kingly  offices  had  a 
more  direct  relevancy  towards  men,  who  are  especially  taught  the 
way  of  salvation,  and  guided  therein  through  them.  And  in- 
deed, in  a  very  important  sense,  the  two  last  named  offices  have 
their  foundation  in  the  first  one  ;  since  without  the  work  of 
Christ  as  our  priest  to  satisfy  divine  justice  and  redeem  us  from 
destruction,  there  is  no  teaching  that  can  avail,  nor  any  guidance 
that  can  he  sufficient  to  lead  us  to  God.  Still,  however,  as  in 
his  public  ministry  on  earth,  Christ  has  entered,  in  his  estate  of 
humiliation,  upon  the  great  work  of  instruction  first — and  that 
of  satisfaction  next,  and  that  of  dominion  last  of  all,  although 
all  are  in  some  degree  discharged  together ;  the  usual  method 
of  treating  his  offices  is  in  the  order  of  prophet,  priest,  and  king, 
which  accords  entirely  with  the  natural  order  of  the  subject. 
We  commence  therefore,  with  his  prophetic  office. 

II. — 1.  Christ,  the  Mediator,  executes  the  office  of  prophet 
by  making  known  unto  men  the  whole  will  of  God  necessary  to 
their  salvation.  The  design  of  his  Mediation  is  to  reconcile  us  to 
God.  In  order  to  that,  one  indispensable  part  of  his  work  is  to 
make  known  to  us,  all  that  it  imports  us  to  know  of  God  and  of 
ourselves  ;  of  the  relations  in  which  we  stand  to  him  as  creatures 
and  as  sinners  ;  of  the  mode  of  reconciliation  to  him ;  of  the 
salvation  which  we  shall  thus  obtain  ;  and  of  the  ruin  which  will 
overtake  us,  if  that  is  neglected.  Dealing  with  us  according  to 
his  own  nature,  and  according  to  ours  also — God  condescends  to 
restore  to  us  the  knowledge  which  we  have  lost — and  to  superadd 
what  relates  to  the  new  method  of  his  dealing  with  our  fallen 
race.  Life  and  immortality  in  a  new  form,  are  offered  to  men 
through  Jesus  Christ ;  and  it  is  one  great  part  thereof  that  he 
becomes  our  divine  Teacher  in  all  things  pertaining  to  that 
eternal  inheritance. 

2.  "  I  will  raise  them  up  a  prophet/'  saith  God  to  Moses — 
"from  among  their  brethren,  like  unto  thee,  and  I  will  put  my 
word  in  his  mouth,  and  he  shall  speak  unto  them  all  that  I  shall 
command  him.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  whosoever  will 
not  hearken  unto  my  words  which  he  shall  speak  in  my  name,  I 


CHAP.  XI.]         CHRIST    THE    GREAT    TEACHER.  143 

will  require  it  of  him."1  A  prophet,  that  is,  who  receives  di- 
rectly from  God,  and  delivers  to  men,  divine  instruction,  which 
if  they  reject  they  shall  perish.  A  prophet  raised  up  immedi- 
ately by  God,  from  the  midst  of  his  brethren — in  a  manner  alto- 
gether different  from  that  in  which  ordinary  prophets  are  raised 
up  by  God.  A  prophet,  like  unto  Moses,  not  only  in  both  these 
particulars — namely,  that  the  manner  of  his  raising  up,  and  the 
manner  of  God's  communication  with  him  are  thus  marvellous  ; 
— but  also,  that  as  Moses  was  a  glorious  ruler,  and  executed  at 
intervals  the  priestly  office — as  well  as  habitually  the  sublime 
functions  of  a  teacher,  taught  himself  immediately  of  God  :  so 
this  predicted  Mediator,  should  be  at  once  and  fully  a  Prophet, 
a  Priest,  and  a  King.  A  Prophet  moreover,  who  like  Moses, 
should  redeem  a  people  from  bondage,  and  found  a  glorious  king- 
dom— give  it  laws  and  ordinances,  lead  it  through  a  howling  wil- 
derness, and  plant  it  in  triumph  in  the  promised  land.  Only 
that  his  work  should  be  infinitely  broader  and  deeper  and  more 
glorious — the  redemption  by  him  more  illustrious — the  triumph 
through  him  more  complete — and  all  the  results  imperishable 
and  eternal.  For  at  the  best,  Moses  in  all  his  greatness  was 
faithful  only  as  a  servant  in  the  house  of  God  ;  but  Christ  Jesus 
as  the  Son  of  God,  in  his  own  house  ;  which  house,  says  Paul, 
are  we,  if  we  hold  fast  the  confidence  and  the  rejoicing  of  the 
hope  firm  unto  the  end.5  Beyond  all  doubt  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
is  he,  of  whom  Moses  and  all  the  prophets  did  write  :3  that  great 
Teacher  sent  from  God,  of  whom  they  all  did  testify.  It  is  he 
by  whom  the  people  that  walked  in  darkness,  have  seen  a  great 
light-  -and  whom  on  that  account,  Isaiah  called  the  Counsellor.4 
He  whom  from  the  very  earliest  period,  God's  inspired  messenger 
revealed  to  man  as  the  Interpreting  angel — as  well  as  their  Han- 
som.5  He  whom  the  prophets  made  known  as  the  Pastor,  sent 
from  God,  to  feed  his  chosen  flock.6  And  when  he  came  into  the 
world — while  the  testimony  of  all  men  unto  him  was,  that  never 
man  spake  as  he  spake  ;  and  the  testimony  of  his  immediate 
followers  was,  that  he  and  he  alone,  had  the  words  of  eternal 
life  :  his  own  unqualified  declaration  was,  "  I  am  the  light  of 
the  world."7 

1  Deut.,  xviii.  IS,  10.         s  Heb.,  ill.  1-G.  3  John,  i.  45  ;  Acts,  iii.  22,  and  vii.  27. 

*  Isaiah,  be.  2-7.  s  Job,  xxxiil  23,  24. 

6  Ezek.,  xxxiii.  23;  Isaiah,  xl.  2,  and  Jer.,  xxiii.  4,  5.  t  John,  viii.  12. 


144  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

3.  It  appertains  to  the  prophetic  office  of  Christ,  that  he 
should  possess  supreme  power.  Power  hy  which  he  may  not  only 
secure  the  absolute  certainty,  that  his  divine  teachings  shall  he 
made  known  outwardly,  and  in  his  own  good  time  and  way  to 
the  whole  family  of  man  :  hut  that  still  more  unsearchable  power, 
by  which,  with  an  irresistible  efficiency,  he  may  open  the  mind 
of  man,  and  turn  his  heart  to  the  knowledge  and  the  belief  of  his 
word.  To  this  office  also  a  boundless  and  uncontrollable  power 
over  the  universe  appertains  :  in  the  exercise  of  which  he  con- 
firms the  reality  of  his  heavenly  mission  as  the  Teacher  sent  from 
God,  and  establishes  the  truth*  of  his  doctrine,  by  miracles  per- 
formed by  his  own  proper  Godhead.1 

4.  To  the  prophetic  office  of  Christ  it  also  appertains,  that  he 
should  possess  divine  and  infallible  wisdom.  Such  power  as  has 
been  already  shown  to  appertain  necessarily  to  this  office,  could 
be  exercised  beneficently  only  by  one  possessed  of  a  wisdom,  com- 
mensurate with  itself.  The  supposition  of  infinite  power  lodged 
with  wisdom  less  than  infinite,  if  it  be  not  in  itself  self-contra- 
dictory and  absurd,  since  power  is  necessarily  either  self-destruc- 
tive, or  limited  by  our  ability  to  use  it — would  establish  a  kind 
of  spiritual  system  for  the  universe,  utterly  incompatible  with  all 
the  knowledge  we  possess  of  it,  and  of  God.  Christ  has  expressly 
declared  that  no  man  knoweth  the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he 
to  whom  the  Son  will  reveal  him  ;2  and  in  like  manner  he  has 
asserted,  that  he  is  himself  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life.3  It 
is  through  him,  that  the  Comforter  himself  leads  us  into  all  truth  : 
for  the  things  which  he  shows  us  are  the  things  of  Christ ;  and 
the  things  of  Christ  are  all  that  the  Father  hath.  So  that  with 
a  divine  and  an  infallible  wisdom — the  world  may  be  convinced 
of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment — and  thus  know,  through 
Christ,  all  that  is  needful  for  salvation.4 

5.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  in  every  classification  we  attempt 
to  make  of  so  many  of  the  Attributes  of  God  as  are  known  to  us, 
they  fall,  of  themselves,  into  certain  great  divisions.  Amongst 
these  classes,  some  are  known  to  us  more  distinctly  and  by  more 
various  methods  than  others  ;  some  result  from  the  very  idea  of 
his  infinite  existence,  and  some  from  particular  aspects  of  that 
incomprehensible  being.     This  vast  subject  will  fall  under  special 

1  Luke,  xxiv.  31,  32,  45,  and  John,  viii.  32,  36,  and  Luke,  vi.  19,  and  Mark,  v.  30 
*  Mat.,  xi.  27.  3  John,  viii.  14.  *  John,  xvi.  7-15. 


CHAP.  XI.]         CHRIST    THE    GREAT    TEACHER.  \±5 

consideration  hereafter  :  but  at  present  it  is  to  be  observed,  that 
■while  every  attribute  of  God — of  which  we  have  any  knowledge, 
is  ascribed  to  the  Mediator  and  involved  in  the  offices  he  exe- 
cutes ;  some  of  them  are  so  manifestly  at  the  very  foundation  of 
his  ability  to  execute  one  or  other  of  those  offices — that  we  can- 
not conceive  of  his  being  the  Mediator  without  them.  Thus,  In- 
finite Power  is  inseparable  from  Infinite  Will  guided  by  Infinite 
Intelligence  :  the  whole  of  which  appertain  to  an  Infinite  Spirit, 
and  to  nothing  else  :  and  infinite  Wisdom  is  not  conceivable 
except  in  connection  with  an  Infinite  Moral  and  Kational  Exist- 
ence. To  open  the  soul  of  man,  to  sanctify  the  conscience  of 
man,  to  control  the  reason  and  the  will  of  man,  to  teach  truth 
that  may  be  made  available  to  all  this,  and  to  enforce  it  all  with 
illimitable  power  of  every  kind  :  all  this  is  the  work  of  God. 
Now,  since  all  these  and  similar  attributes  of  God,  are  found 
ascribed  to  Christ  in  every  part  of  his  office  and  work  as  Media- 
tor, and  are  here  shown,  both  from  the  word  of  God  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  case,  to  lie  at  the  very  foundation  of  his  Prophetic 
office  :  it  is  apparent  here  as  everywhere,  that  the  entire  plan  of 
salvation  which  turns  absolutely  upon  the  person  of  Christ,  is 
subverted  the  very  moment  we  deny  his  supreme  Godhead.  By 
the  personal  union  of  the  human  and  divine  natures  in  Christ,  as 
has  been  shown  in  a  former  chapter,  such  infinite  and  divine  unc- 
tion is  communicated  to  the  human  nature,  and  such  ineffable 
intercommunication  exists  between  the  two  natures  in  his  person 
— and  such  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwelleth  in  him  bodily  ;  that 
upon  the  supposition  of  such  a  being,  for  such  an  end — both  of 
which  points  have  been  heretofore  fully  established,  we  can  not 
only  see  clearly  how  infinite  power  and  wisdom  should  reside  in 
Christ,  as  the  great  Teacher  of  Men — but  we  cannot  sec  how  it 
could  possibly  be  otherwise. 

III.  In  the  execution  of  the  Prophetic  office  of  Christ,  there 
may  be  said  to  be  two  general  stages  or  parts  of  the  glorious 
work  ;  namely  the  actual  Teaching,  and  the  divine  Confirma- 
tion both  of  the  Teacher  and  of  that  which  he  taught  :  the  ac- 
tual exercise  of  the  office — of  divinely  and  infallibly  teaching  men 
the  whole  will  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  then  the  infinite  con- 
firmation by  God  of  the  whole  truth  delivered — and  of  Christ 
himself,  the  great  Teacher  thereof. 

1.  With  respect  to  the  first  of  these,   namely  the  making 

10 


146  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

known  unto  men  of  the  entire  way  of  salvation  and  the  whole 
means  thereof,  and  declaring  the  whole  will  of  God  relating 
thereto  ;  Christ  has  always  been,  and  will  for  ever  remain  the 
great  Teacher — the  Prophet  of  his  people.1  All  the  prophets  and 
Apostles  were  hut  his  servants  and  Disciples — and  spoke  only  as 
they  were  moved  by  his  Spirit.2  He  alone  taught  with  an  abso- 
lute, personal  authority,  freedom,  confidence,  wisdom  and  ful- 
ness.3 While  he  was  on  earth  he  did  this  in  his  own  person,4 
and  as  a  minister  of  the  circumcision,5  but  with  the  authority  of 
a  lawgiver  ;6  and  also  by  his  servants  and  Disciples  chosen  and 
fitted  by  himself.7  Before  he  was  incarnate  he  did  it  by  Pro- 
phets, Priests  and  Scribes  of  the  earlier  Dispensations.8  Since 
his  resurrection  and  to  the  end  of  time,  he  has  done  it  and  will 
do  it,  first  by  his  Apostles  and  then  by  Ministers,  called  and 
qualified  by  himself  for  their  great  work.9  Always  and  under  all 
circumstances — with  a  divine  power  operating  internally,  by  the 
Word,  upon  the  minds  of  men.10  And  since  the  day  of  Pentecost 
in  a  peculiar  manner,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  sent  down  from  Heaven 
and  abiding  in  the  hearts  of  his  people — their  comforter,  and  his 
witness,  till  ho  shall  return  again  without  sin  unto  salvation.11 

2.  There  are  various  points  touching  the  exercise  of  the  pro- 
phetic office  by  Christ,  as  an  actual  Teacher,  which  even  in  the 
briefest  statement  of  it — need  to  be  distinctly  insisted  on — 
as  being  pre-eminently  characteristic  in  themselves,  and  of  su- 
preme importance  to  us.  Amongst  these,  at  the  very  threshold, 
we  are  to  understand  that  Christ  has  made  himself  absolutely 
responsible  for  the  whole  contents  of  the  Jewish  Sacred  Books, 
and  for  the  whole  contents  of  the  Books  written  by  Apostles  and 
Evangelists  selected  by  himself  to  record  the  story  of  his  life,  to 
perpetuate  his  personal  teachings,  and  to  expound  the  whole  doc- 
trine of  Salvation.  His  attestation  to  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament,  as  being  of  divine  origin  and  authority,  is  perfectly 

1  Isaiah,   lxi.  1-4;  Psalm  ii.  6,   7  ;  Luke,   iv.   18;  Mat,  xvii.  5,  and  xxiii.  8-10; 
Acts,  vii.  37,  38;  Heb.,  iii.  1,  2. 

2  Mat.,  xi.  27  ;   1  Peter,  i.  10,  11,  and  iii.  19;  Eph.,  ii.  17  ;  Neh.,  ix.  30. 

3  Mat.,  v.  22,  28,  32,  34,  44,  and  vii.  2S,  29 ;  Mark,  i.  22. 

4  Heb.,  ii.  3.        s  R0m.,  xv.  8.         6  Mat.,  vii.  29.         *   Mat,  x.  40;  Luke,  x.  16. 
8  Heb.,  i.  1;  1  Peter,  i.  11,  12,  and  iii.  18,  19;  2  Peter,  i.   19-21;  Hosea,  iv.  6,  7 

Mat.,  ii.  5,  G,  17,  and  xxiiL  37.  9  2  Cor.,  iv.  6,  and  v.  19,  20 ;  Eph.,  iv.  8-13. 

10  Acts,  xvi.  14;  Eph.,  i.  19;  Luke,  xxiv.  32,  45. 

11  John,  vi.  45 ;  Acts,  xvi.  14,  and  i.  4-8;  John,  xiv.  16,  26;  Acts,  ii  23. 


CH AI\  XI.]        CHRIST    THE    GREAT    TEACHER.  147 

emphatic,  and  the  whole  body  of  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament presents  one  continual  picture  and  record  of  himself,  all 
directed  to  the  one  object,  that  men  might  believe  that  he  is  the 
Christ,  and  that  believing  they  might  have  everlasting  life.  Nay 
more  :  it  is  his  Spirit  which  inspired  them  all,  and  their  very 
name — the  word  of  God — identifies  them  with  him  as  God  the 
Wmd,  and  identifies  them  with  him  again,  as  the  Word  made 
flesh.  Whatever  these  Scriptures  may  be,  they  are  the  eternal 
monument  of  the  Great  Teacher  :  a  monument  more  stupendous 
than  all  others  united,  which  have  been  erected  in  the  Universe; 
and  above  all  else  stupendous  in  this,  that  Christ  himself,  in  his 
person  and  his  work,  presents  to  all  rational  creatures,  the  sum 
of  the  whole  teachings  which  the  whole  written  word  presents  to 
the  same  creatures  in  another  form.  The  great  Teacher  not 
only  points  the  way,  but  he  is  the  way  ;  he  not  only  teaches  all 
truth,  but  he  is  the  very  truth  ;  he  not  only  brings  life  and  im- 
mortality to  light,  but  he  is  the  true  God  and  eternal  life. 
Amongst  all  wonders  none  is  greater  than  this.  Christ  is  sub- 
jectively, the  very  sum  of  revealed  Keligion,  taken  objectively. 
The  great  Teacher  is  the  concrete  form  of  all  divine  knowledge 
ever  communicated  to  man. 

3.  When  we  consider  the  substance  of  the  personal  teaching 
of  Christ — two  things  strike  us  as  infinitely  remarkable  ;  namely 
the  wonderful  manner  in  which  he  develops  the  ancient  Scrip- 
tures, and  the  fulness  and  authority  with  which  he  supplies  what- 
ever they  had  left  obscure.  Amongst  the  most  remarkable 
extended  examples  we  might  take  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  as 
recorded  by  the  Apostle  Matthew.1  But  in  truth  the  whole 
ministry  of  Christ  is  full  of  examples.  lam  not  come,  said  he, 
to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets,  but  to  fulfil  ;  and  his  teach- 
ings abound  with  applications  of  this  great  principle  to  every 
aspect  of  revealed  truth,  and  every  form  in  which  we  can  imagine 
that  truth  to  be  perfected,  or  accomplished,  or  exhausted.  The 
law  is  fulfilled  by  being  perfectly  obeyed,  by  having  its  widest 
applications  so  explained  as  to  make  it  almost  a  Gospel — by  de- 
veloping from  it  the  great  law  of  love — and  then  by  submitting 
to  its  direst  penalty  and  becoming  the  end  of  it  for  righteous- 
ness. Truths  before  revealed  in  part,  or  fully  revealed  only  under 
types,  are  laid  open  and  developed  by  him,  so  as  to  be  perfectly 

1  Mat.,  chaps,  v.  vi.  and  vii. 


148  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

clear  and  simple,  and  to  possess  a  force  which  did  not  before  ap- 
pear in  them.  The  prophecies  in  part  accomplished,  and  in  part 
more  clearly  set  forth,  and  in  part  supplemented  with  new  pre- 
dictions, carrying  forward  the  prophetic  history  with  increased 
distinctness,  to  the  consummation  of  all  things,  are  thus  fulfilled 
in  every  sense.  The  types,  and  shadows,  and  ceremonies,  and 
ordinances,  are  sometimes  dismissed  as  being  completely  ex- 
hausted, sometimes  replaced  by  others  more  complete,  sometimes 
illustrated  and  continued,  sometimes  finished  by  their  own  nature 
and  limitation  ;  but  all  of  them  are  in  some  sense  fulfilled  by 
Christ.  All  the  duties  of  life  are  put  more  clearly  on  their  true 
bases,  illustrated  more  fully  in  the  light  of  a  more  perfect  reve- 
lation, and  their  amazing  breadth,  and  their  infinite  significance, 
and  the  immutable  relations  between  duty  and  truth,  and  be- 
tween goodness  and  greatness,  are  set  forth  in  expositions  which 
are  most  inadequately  described  when  we  say  nothing  human 
approaches  them.  In  one  word,  and  as  the  sum  of  all — in  the 
hands  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  all  the  Institutions  of  the  ancient 
patriarchs,  which  were  Institutions  contemplating  the  human 
race  as  so  many  distinct  families,  but  which  were  applicable  to 
every  family  in  the  world  ;  and  all  the  Institutions  of  Moses, 
which  designedly  separated  the  people  of  God  from  all  other 
people",  and  established  them  under  a  Theocracy  absolutely  dis- 
tinct and  peculiar  :  all  passed  over  into  a  new  and  glorious  form, 
and  without  any  distortion  of  anything  that  had  gone  before,  but 
on  the  contrary  fulfilling,  perfecting,  completing  everything — the 
Messianic  Kingdom  stood  forth  capacious  as  the  Universe  itself, 
and  pregnant  with  all  truth,  all  blessedness,  and  all  force. 

4.  The  very  conception  of  teaching  as  a  power  fit  and  ade- 
quate, which  was  personal  to  Christ,  distinguishes  the  exercise 
of  his  prophetic  office,  almost  as  remarkably  as  either  of  the  cir- 
cumstances already  pointed  out.  The  conception  of  a  universal 
kingdom  by  universal  conquest,  was  one  of  the  earliest,  and  con- 
sidering the  unity  of  the  human  race,  one  of  the  most  natural, 
as  it  was  one  of  the  most  steadfast,  that  took  possession  of  the 
great  powers  of  the  earth.  Four  times  at  least,  the  idea  was 
realized,  by  the  four  universal  monarchies  of  which  the  Scrip- 
tures teach  so  largely,  and  whose  career  is  the  very  staple  of  all 
profane  history,  down  to  the  complete  overthrow  of  the  Eoman 
Empire,  and  the  total  reconstruction  of  society  in  modern  times. 


CHAP.  XI.]        CHRIST    THE    GREAT    TEACHER.  149 

Nor  is  it  a  little  remarkable  that  this  conception  was  abandoned 
by  the  World-Powers,  only  after  the  complete  initiation  of 
the  true  universal  kingdom,  the  Messianic  kingdom,  under  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  nor  less  so,  that  simultaneously  with 
this  abandonment  by  the  World-Powers,  the  conception  was 
taken  up,  as  against  the  true  Kingdom  of  Christ,  both  by  the 
great  Apostacy  of  the  East  under  Mahomet  and  his  successors, 
and  the  great  Apostacy  of  the  West  under  the  Roman  Pontiffs — 
all  striving  for  universal  dominion  by  conquest.  But  here  lies 
the  ineffaceable  distinction  between  the  Messianic  conception  of 
universal  dominion  and  every  other  conception  of  it  :  that  the 
Messianic  kingdom  is  to  be  established  and  maintained  by  in- 
struction, by  light,  by  consent — while  every  other  universal  do- 
minion is  one  of  conquest,  of  force,  of  violence.  Put  up  again 
thy  sword  into  his  place,1  was  the  command  of  Christ  to  his  fol- 
lowers, at  the  very  crisis  of  his  own  fate  ;  and  such,  as  concern- 
ing the  spread  of  his  kingdom,  is  its  very  conception  and  whole 
spirit.  No  conception  can  be  more  simple  or  more  august ;  while 
none  could  be  more  distinctly  anti-natural,  as  the  whole  history 
of  man  has  shown.  Nothing  more  sublime  has  ever  appeared, 
than  the  confidence  of  Christ  both  in  the  truth  which  he  taught, 
and  in  the  power  of  that  truth  to  supplant  violence  as  the  prin- 
ciple of  universal  dominion.  Teach  all  nations  ;  teach  them 
precisely  what  I  have  taught  you  ;  neither  more  nor  less.  This 
is  the  basis  of  his  universal  dominion.  And  all  succeeding; 
ages  have  so  proved  that  the  preaching  of  the  Cross  is  the  power 
of  God,"  that  even  misbelievers  accept,  after  their  own  fashion, 
the  great  conception  of  the  great  Teacher — and  lavish  against 
the  preaching  of  the  truth,  a  part  of  that  violence  on  which  they 
rely  for  the  conquest  of  men. 

5.  Nor  was  his  method  of  teaching  truth  less  distinctly  char- 
acteristic of  Christ.  He  gathered  no  special  audience,  he  had 
no  fixed  place,  he  made  no  preconceived  discourses  :  but  in  the 
temple,  or  on  the  way-side — in  the  desert,  on  the  sea-shore,  from 
the  mountain-top  ;  from  house  to  house,  from  village  to  village, 
from  city  to  city,  from  tribe  to  tribe  ;  now  disputing  with  learned 
sceptics,  now  rebuking  fierce  bigots,  now  warning  hypocritical 
formalists  ;  now  teaching  with  infinite  tenderness  the  humble 
Beeker  after  truth,  now  confounding  great  scholars  and  doctors, 

1  Mat.  xxvi.  52.  2  1  Cor.,  i.  18. 


150  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK    Ii. 

now  solving  the  doubts  which  perplexed  wise  and  anxious  hearts  ; 
now  seated  in  earnest  converse  with,  some  beloved  household,  or 
even  some  single  disciple,  or  some  single  outcast;  now  pouring 
forth  to  countless  multitudes,  who  forgot  the  wants  of  nature 
as  they  waited  from  day  to  day  at  his  feet,  those  words  of  eter- 
nal wisdom  and  love  which  have  nourished  the  pure  in  heart 
through  all  succeeding  time.  A  few  of  his  immediate  followers 
have  preserved  for  all  mankind,  in  a  few  brief  narratives,  a  small 
portion  of  those  unparalleled  teachings,1  which  during  three  years 
were  continually  on  his  lips  and  which  were  personally  heard,  it 
may  be,  by  many  millions  of  our  race.  The  power  of  his  teach- 
ing both  in  the  substance  and  in  the  form  of  it — the  power  of 
his  overwhelming  presence  as  a  teacher,  was  so  transcendent,  that 
in  all  his  history  there  is  not  the  slightest  intimation  that  a  sin- 
gle human  being  was  ever  wholly  unconcerned  under  it.  Some- 
times they  shouted  hosanna — and  sometimes  they  shouted  cru- 
cify him  :  but  no  one  was  ever  indifferent  when  they  saw  that 
wondrous  man,  and  heard  those  wondrous  words.  He  taught 
them  with  absolute  fulness,  he  taught  them  with  absolute  au- 
thority, he  taught  them  concerning  all  truth  and  all  duty,  he 
taught  in  a  way  that  no  one  ever  taught  before  or  since.  Yet 
he  taught  them  so  simply  that  the  very  weakest  -could  under- 
stand all  that  the  very  greatest  could  understand — so  clearly  that 
every  one  could  know  all  that  could  be  known. 

6.  The  habitual  form  in  which  Christ  cast  his  teachings,  is  too 
remarkable  to  be  passed  over  without  special  notice  :  the  more 
so  as  there  is  no  room  to  doubt  that  even  to  our  own  time,  the 
nature  and  significance  of  it,  are  not  fully  appreciated.  All 
these  things,  says  Matthew,  spake  Jesus  unto  the  multitude  in 
parables  and  without  a  parable  spake  he  not  unto  them.2  The 
reason  of  this  remarkable  habit  is  given  by  Christ  himself,  in 
explaining  to  his  disciples  the  parable  of  the  sower ;  for  he  tells 
them,  unto  you  it  is  given  to  know  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  ;  but  to  others  in  parables  that  seeing  they  might  not 
see,  and  hearing  they  might  not  understand.3  And  at  the  very 
close  of  his  ministry  he  said  to  his  apostles,  these  things  have  I 
spoken  unto  you  in  parables  ;  but  the  time  cometh  when  I  shall 
no  more  sjeak  unto  you  in  parables,  but  I  shall  show  you  plainly 
of  the  Father.4     And  the  first  passage  above  cited  from  Mat- 

1  John,  xxi.  25.        a  Mat.,  xiii.  34.         3  Luke,  viii.  10.        4  Join,  xvi.  25. 


CHAP.  XI.]        CHRIST    THE    GREAT    TEACHER.  151 

thew's  gospel  is  immediately  followed  by  this  quotation  from  the 
seventy-eighth  Psalm,  which  the  Apostle  applies  to  Jesus,  That 
it  might  he  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the  prophets  saying,  I 
will  open  my  mouth  in  parables  :  I  will  utter  things  which  have 
been  kept  secret  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.1     We  are 
thus  distinctly  told  that  teaching  by  parables,  was  not  only  the 
constant  habit  of  Jesus,  but  that  it  was  predicted  of  him  as  such, 
and  that  it  was  a  peculiar  mark  of  his  personal  ministry — and 
was  not  to  continue  after  that  ministry  had  ceased.     Moreover, 
that  the  special  reason  for  adopting  this  method  of  instruction 
was  to  veil  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  which  mys- 
teries should  involve  things,  thus  veiled  in  parables,  which  had 
been  kept  secret  till  then,  but  which  Christ  should  utter  in  this 
form  ;  and  finally  that  the  followers  of  Christ  were  entitled  to 
know  these  mysteries,  thus  veiled  in  parables.     Therefore  Christ 
expounded  to  them  many  of  his  parables,  which  confessedly  they 
did  not  understand  before  the  explanation.     Mark  adds2  that 
Christ  in  explaining  the  parable  of  the  sower  remarked  on  the 
ignorance  of  his  apostles,  intimating  apparently,  that  they  might 
understand   from   the   explanation  he   was  about  to  give,  the 
method  of  expounding  all  parables.     Considering  all  these  state- 
ments we  can  understand  how  it  is,  that  besides  the  charm  of 
the  parables  of  the  Lord,  derived  from  their  very  form,  and  which 
makes  them  so  effective  as  a  vehicle  of  instruction  ;  and  besides 
the  obvious  lessons  of  wisdom  and  prudence  and  piety  which 
lie  on  the  surface  of  all  of  them,  and  which  are  all  that  men 
commonly  seek  for  in  them  :  there  is  in  every  one  of  them,  some 
precious  secret  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  veiled  indeed,  but  still 
comprehensible  to  all  to  whom  it  is  given  to  know  the  mysteries 
of  that  kingdom.     It  is  this  hidden  treasure  which  renders  the 
payables  of  the  Lord,  perfectly  unique  in  the  literary  history  of 
mankind  :  and  consecrates  that  form  of  instruction  to  him,  in  a 
way  altogether  unapproachable  by  man.     It  is  this  abounding 
richness  which  makes  them  separately  of  such  inestimable  value 
to  the  children  of  God  ;  and  which  makes  them  when  taken  to- 
gether, a  complete  summary  of  divine  truth.     As  one  example 
taken  nearly  at  random,  the   Saviour,  in  the  parable  of  Lazarus 
and  Dives  has  taught  mankind  in  a  few  sentences,  occupying  half 
a  page,  and  uttered  without  premeditation  to  certain  Pharisees 

1  Mat,  xiii  35.  2  Mark,  iv.  12. 


152  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IL 

who  had  derided  hirn  ;  more  fully  arid  more  precisely,  all  that 
relates  to  the  vast,  obscure  and  multiplied  questions  of  the  state 
of  man  after  death,  than  is  to  be  found  in  all  the  utterances  of 
all  beings  except  himself,  before  and  since.1  The  certainty  of 
man's  immortality  ;  the  certainty  of  future,  eternal,  and  sepa- 
rate retribution,  to  the  just  and  the  unjust;  the  certainty  that 
the  issues  of  our  being  in  the  world  to  come  depend  on  the  na- 
ture of  our  life  here  ;  the  certainty  that  goodness  and  not  great- 
ness, virtue  and  not  success,  is  the  decisive  matter  for  eternity  ; 
the  certainty  that  the  truths  revealed  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures 
?.re  adequate  to  the  direction  of  men's  lives  and  the  salvation  of 
their  souls,  and  that  repentance  and  faith  are  the  conditions  of 
salvation  ;  the  certainty  that  no  portents,  whether  physical  or 
spiritual — not  even  a  messenger  from  the  dead,  are  adequate  to 
any  such  end.  Can  there  be  any  doubt  that  except  Jesus,  the 
earth  till  then  had  never  contained  one  single  person  to  whom  all 
these  great  and  dark  questions  stood  exactly  in  the  light,  in 
which  he  has  placed  them  for  us  ? 

7.  It  has  already  been  pointed  out,  that  it  appertains  to  the 
prophetic  office  of  Christ,  to  make  known  to  man  the  whole  will 
of  God  unto  salvation  ;  and  that  Christ  has  most  emphatically 
set  forth  the  whole  truth  of  God,  contained  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  as  being  complete  unto  that  end  ;  the  latter  by  ut- 
tering and  enacting  it,  the  former  by  ratifying  and  attesting  it  — 
both  by  inspiring  the  whole  by  his  Divine   Spirit.     This  divine 
truth  thus  identified  with  Christ  becomes  by  the  very  terms  of 
the  statement,  a  rule  at  once  complete  and  infallible,  both  of 
human  conduct  and  human  belief ;  that  is  both  of  duty  and  of 
faith  to  the  whole  extent  that  both  of  them  appertain  to  salva- 
tion.     The  great  Teacher  is  responsible  for  it  all — and  he  is 
entitled  to  the  use  of  it  all  in  the  execution  of  his  sublime  office. 
And  we  must  remember  that  all  these  terms  are  used  in  their 
widest  sense.     Thus  taken,  the  Word  of  God  is  a  light  and  a 
power  unto  salvation.     It  is  a  two-edged  sword  within  us  sep- 
arating between  the  very  joints  and  marrow.     A  discerner  of  the 
very  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart,  it  is  the  only  effectual 
instrument,  in  the  whole  work  of  man's  salvation.     He  who  has 
substituted  instruction  for  violence,  has  taken  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit,  instead  of  the  sword  whose  use  he  prohibited  ;  and  in 

1  Luke,  xvi.  10-31. 


CHAP.  XI.]         CHRIST    THE    GREAT    TEACHER.  153 

these  sacred  writings  is  contained  that  very  truth,  in  which  he 
manifested  that  sublime  confidence,  that  it  would  win  for  him  a 
universal  and  an  endless  dominion.  Whatever  is  lacking  to  men 
who  never  enjoyed  the  divine  power  of  his  personal  presence 
and  instruction,  is  supplied  by  the  divine  presence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  their  hearts.  It  is  he  who  is  the  only  effectual  agent — 
as  divine  truth  is  the  only  effectual  instrument  in  the  whole  work 
of  regenerating  and  sanctifying  the  soul  of  man.  The  relations 
both  of  this  instrument  and  this  agent  of  man's  salvation,  to  man 
himself,  are  controlled  and  determined  by  man's  relation  to  Christ. 
The  whole  work  of  the  Spirit  has  absolute  relevancy  to  the  per- 
son, and  work,  and  word  of  Christ  ;  and  whatever  difference  may 
be  apparent  in  the  relations  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  Messianic 
kingdom,  and  to  the  work  of  salvation  carried  on  in  its  bosom,  in 
different  ways  under  different  dispensations  ;  the  whole  difference 
is  always  attributable  to  the  different  position  of  Christ  himself, 
with  reference  to  the  kingdom.  Since  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  since  the  completion  of  the  per- 
sonal work  of  the  great  Teacher  on  earth,  and  the  resumption  of 
his  prophetic  office  at  the  light  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high, 
which  preceded  that  descent :  beyond  a  doubt — as  has  been 
abundantly  proved  before — the  aspect  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
is  correspondingly  changed,  and  therewith  the  aspect  of  divine 
truth  and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  may  be  confidently 
asserted  that  the  Word  and  the  Spirit  of  God — and  the  ministry 
and  ordinances  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  as  they  all  relate  to  the 
prophetic  office  of  Christ,  do  more  and  more  manifestly  prove 
themselves  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  as  the  long 
ages  pass  away.  And  thus  do  all  things  more  and  more  illustrate 
that  prophetic  office,  both  as  Christ  executed  it  during  his  estate 
of  Humiliation,  and  as  he  has  continually  executed  it  in  his 
estate  of  Exaltation,  proving  how  transcendent  he  was  as  the 
great  Teacher  of  mankind,  and  how  illustrious  a  part  that  office 
was  of  his  divine  work  as  Mediator  between  God  and  man. 

IV.  With  respect  to  the  divine  confirmation  of  Christ's 
prophetic  office — it  is  impossible  to  develop  even  in  the  feeblest 
manner,  the  actual  work  of  Christ  as  the  great  Teacher  of  man- 
kind, without  exhibiting  at  every  step  proofs  of  his  divine  fitness 
for  his  office,  and  of  his  divine  authority  therein.  The  very  story 
of  what  he  does,  is  a  perpetual  demonstration  of  what  he  is. 


154  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IT. 

There  are  however  overwhelming  proofs  distinct  in  themselves — ■ 
some  of  them  nearly  connected  with  the  work  itself — some  of 
them  quite  separate  from  it,  which  confirm  to  us  in  the  most 
remarkable  manner,  the  divine  power  of  the  Mediator  in  his 
prophetic  office.  Some  of  the  most  obvious  of  these  proofs  will 
be  briefly  suggested. 

1.  If  we  are  asked  to  produce  evidence  to  sustain  the  claims 
of  some  great  captain,  wre  point  at  once  to  the  victories  he  has 
won.  Upon  the  same  principle  we  point  to  the  administration 
of  great  statesmen — to  the  works  of  great  poets — to  the  re- 
searches of  great  scholars — to  the  discoveries  of  great  philoso- 
phers— to  the  lives  of  great  philanthropists.  Supposing  this  kind 
of  evidence  to  be  of  any  value — and  it  is  manifestly  of  the  very 
highest  value, — it  establishes  the  mission  of  Christ  as  a  divine 
Teacher,  in  a  manner  more  various  and  more  conclusive  than  any 
other  disputed  point,  was  ever  established  by  that  kind  of  evi- 
dence. I  will  not  in  this  place  lay  particular  stress  on  the  direct 
and  innumerable  testimonies  of  the  Scriptures  themselves  to  the 
supreme  Godhead  of  the  great  Teacher  ;  because,  as  these  very 
Scriptures  have  been  identified  in  the  most  intimate  manner 
with  Christ  himself,  the  caviller  might  say,  this  is  merely  Christ's 
testimony  to  himself ;  and  I  will  not  stop  now  to  expose  that 
cavil.  Moreover  I  will  only  suggest  the  conclusive  nature  of  the 
proof  furnished  by  the  whole  compass  of  prophecy  as  it  bears, 
from  the  beginning  of  time,  upon  the  person  and  work  of  Christ ; 
and  as  it  has  been  manifesting  itself  by  its  perpetual  fulfilment, 
since  the  ascension  of  Christ,  precisely  as  it  was  restated,  sup- 
plemented, and  completed  by  himself,  and  by  those  selected  and 
qualified  by  him.  And  further  still  I  will  merely  direct  atten- 
tion to  the  irresistible  force  of  the  confirmation  derived  from  a 
complete  survey  of  what  is  specially  called  the  internal  evidences, 
that  the  intelligence,  wisdom,  and  knowledge  of  the  Saviour  were 
divine.  Still  however  every  one  of  these  three  immense  depart- 
ments of  proof,  may  be  asserted  to  be  overwhelming  in  its  own 
nature,  and  overwhelming  in  its  application  to  the  question  of 
the  divinity  of  Christ's  prophetic  mission.  For  the  testimony 
of  the  Godhead  to  itself,  is  the  very  highest  testimony  which  can 
be  borne  ;  and  the  perfect  knowledge  of  all  things,  and  amongst 
the  rest,  of  all  future  things,  is  divine  omniscience  ;  and  the 
direction  of  that  boundless  omniscience  into  the  soul  of  man  bear- 


CHAP.  XI.]        CHRIST    THE    GREAT    TEACHER.  155 

ing  with  it  a  perfect  remedy  for  all  the  deadly  maladies  of  that 
soul,  is  to  the  soul  itself,  the  most  conclusive  form  in  which  in- 
finite wisdom  can  be  exhibited. 

2.  But  there  are  broad  and  unequivocal  aspects  of  the  Word 
of  God  as  connected  with  the  prophetic  office  of  Christ,  which 
seem  to  me  wholly  irresistible  in  the  confirmation  they  afford. 
Take  the  Scriptures  as  a  whole  —and  consider  the  claims  of  Christ 
as  a  divine  Teacher  to  depend  absolutely  en  the  estimate  which 
human  reason  ought  to  form  of  these  writings — taken  altogether 
and  viewed  as  the  product  of  one  mind.  Unquestionably  the  sup- 
position of  their  being  the  product  of  one  single  human  intellect  is 
utterly  ridiculous  :  for  the  whole  of  human  intelligence  has  not 
been  able  to  produce  any  single  complete  portion  of  them.  But 
that  one  and  the  same  intelligence  does  pervade  every  part  of 
them,  is  just  as  manifest  as  that  there  are  such  writings.  The 
moment  we  admit  the  relation  which  Christ's  prophetic  office 
bears  to  the  Scriptures — that  moment  all  doubt  ceases  as  to  what 
Christ  is.  But  the  moment  we  deny  the  relation  which  Christ's 
prophetic  office  bears  to  the  Scriptures,  that  moment  we  change 
the  whole  character  of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  The  Word 
of  God — God  the  Word — and  the  Word  made  flesh — all  stand 
or  fall  together.  And  if  there  be  in  this  universe  anvthing  that 
stands  more  firmly,  than  the  word  of  eternal  life — the  divine 
Saviour  of  sinners — and  the  self-existent  God,  all  united  ;  it  has 
not  hitherto  fallen  to  the  lot  of  man  to  find  it  out.  Moreover, 
the  grand  conception  of  these  Scriptures — and  the  central  object 
of  the  whole  of  them,  is  Christ  himself — and  salvation  by  him 
for  lost  sinners.  What  may  be  boldly  asserted,  is  that  every 
part  of  this  conception  of  Christ  which  pervades  the  Scriptures, 
is  wholly  superhuman  :  and  that  every  use  to  which  the  concep- 
tion of  such  a  being  is  put,  throughout  the  Scriptures,  is  wholly 
superhuman  :  and  that  the  tenacity  with  which  they  hold  to  and 
develop  the  conception,  and  the  grand  use  to  be  made  of  it,  is 
if  it  were  possible  still  more  superhuman.  This  is  not  the  way 
in  which  man  conceives  of  things.  Nor  is  it  the  way  in  which  he 
develops  them  :  nor  are  these  the  ends  he  proposes  :  nor  is  this 
the  method  by  which  he  accomplishes  what  he  proposes.  There 
is  not  one  capital  truth  which  enters  into  the  plan  of  salvation, 
which  every  thousandth  human  being  even  adequately  under- 
stands :  not  one  of  them  which  anv  human  beino;  ever  understood 


156  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

at  all  except  as  it  was  taught  him  through  the  prophetic  office 
of  Christ.  We  might  as  well  say  that  the  universe  itself  is  an 
out-birth  of  some  human  conception — as  to  say  that  the  Christ 
of  the  Scriptures  is.  And  moreover,  we  are  now  in  a  position  to 
estimate  the  power  of  God's  word — the  power  of  Christ's  pro- 
phetic office,  at  the  end  of  about  thirty-three  or  four  centuries 
since  the  days  of  Moses,  and  of  about  eighteen  centuries  since 
the  days  of  the  Son  of  Man.  Here  is  the  Great  Teacher  himself ; 
here  is  the  totality  of  his  instructions,  which  have  survived 
through  all  ages  ;  here  are  the  fruits  of  his  teachings  covering 
the  whole  known  history  of  man,  and  now  lying  palpably 
before  our  eyes.  An  immense  portion  of  the  human  race  has, 
in  all  ages,  neglected  this  Great  Teacher ;  and  other  immense 
portions  have  perverted  his  teachings  ;  and  others  still  have  fol- 
lowed other  teachers.  So  that  every  aspect  of  the  case,  neces- 
sary for  the  most  decisive  judgment  is  exhibited  to  us.  Is  it 
within  the  compass  of  human  ignorance  and  folly  to  doubt  what 
judgment  every  enlightened  mind  must  render  ?  Viewed,  there- 
fore, in  its  totality — viewed  in  its  great  and  pervading  conception 
— and  viewed  in  the  sum  of  its  practical  effects  upon  the  human 
race — the  word  of  God,  and  by  consequence  the  prophetic  office 
of  the  Son  of  God  to  which  we  owe  that  word — are  divine.  And 
this  is  the  emphatic  and  perpetual  testimony  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
A  testimony  rendered  both  to  Christ  and  to  the  word  of  life. 
Rendered  to  Christ  in  every  conceivable  way  during  his  ministry 
on  earth  :  rendered  of  Christ  in  every  conceivable  way  since  his 
ascent  up  into  glory.  Rendered  to  the  teaching  of  Christ,  inces- 
santly, while  he  taught  in  the  flesh  :  rendered  to  the  word  taught 
with  divine  power,  from  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  this  day.  It  is 
the  testimony  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  to  the  truth  itself :  the 
testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  that  true  holiness,  which  divine 
truth  begets  and  nourishes  :  the  testimony  of  the  Quickening 
Spirit,  to  that  new  life,  begotten  by  himself,  and  which  is  nour- 
ished in  holiness  by  divine  truth.  If  divine  testimony  is  worthy 
of  credit,  Jesus  Christ  is  a  divine  teacher. 

3.  It  is  impossible  to  admit  for  a  moment,  that  the  Lord 
Jesus — such  as  all  testimony  proves  him  to  have  been — could 
have  designedly  imposed  upon  his  followers,  by  pretending  to  be, 
what  he  was  not.  Nor  would  it  help  the  case  of  the  unbeliever 
at  all,  to  allege  that  he  was  deluded  himselfj  and  in  that  way 


CHAP.  XI.]       CHRIST     THE     GREAT     TEACHER.  157 

deceived  others.  He  was  no  fanatic — no  impostor.  His  life  was 
a  life  of  immaculate  purity.  A  life  absolutely  incomprehensible 
upon  the  supposition  that  he  was  a  mere  man — much  less  a  weak 
and  sinful  man  ;  yet  perfectly  comprehensible,  consistent  and 
glorious,  when  considered  as  the  life  of  a  divine  Teacher,  actuated 
by  the  spirit  of  a  divine  mission,  as  Mediator  between  God  and 
men.  This  is  what  he  uniformly  testified  of  himself ;  and  the 
testimony  of  God  and  men,  sustained  his  own.1  All  his  disciples,2 
even  Judas  who  betrayed  him,3  the  wife  of  Pilate  who  judged 
him,4  the  centurion  who  watched  his  death-struggle,5  the  Roman 
governor  who  condemned  him,6  nay  the  Jews  themselves7 — all 
testified  that  his  life  was  one  of  unspotted  purity  and  unap- 
proachable perfection.  His  death — though  it  appertains  more 
especially  to  his  priestly  office — attested  and  confirmed  his  pro- 
phetic work.  The  Faithful  Witness  (u  jiaprevg  6  ino-oqy  is  the 
title  given  to  him,  in  the  last  record  of  him,  by  the  last  and  best 
loved  of  his  Apostles.  And  throughout  all  succeeding  ages,  all 
who  have  sealed  with  their  blood,  their  testimony  for  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus,  have  been  honored  with  this  title  of  their  Mas- 
ter— martyrs — that  is  faithful  witnesses.  Led  to  crucifixion  for 
blasphemy  and  treason — crimes  which  in  their  own  nature,  the 
Son  of  God  and  the  Ruler  of  the  universe  could  not  commit — 
he  refused  to  modify  a  single  word  he  had  uttered  ;  avouched 
with  perfect  simplicity,  to  the  Sanhedrim  of  the  Jews,  and  at 
the  bar  of  Pontius  Pilate,  all  that  he  had  publicly  taught,  and 
willingly  laid  down  his  life,  not  only  as  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  but  also 
as  the  most  solemn  attestation  of  the  office  he  bore,  and  the 
truth  he  had  taught.  If  the  perfect  fitness  of  a  whole  life,  be  any 
attestation  to  the  ruling  idea  of  that  life  ;  if  death  willingly 
encountered,  is  any  proof  of  the  depth  of  personal  convictions  : 
then  the  life  and  the  death  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  do  clearly 
prove,  that  he  was  in  the  highest  of  all  senses  a  Teacher  sent 
from  God.9 

4.  Above  all  other  attestations,  in  the  judgment  of  God 
himself,  as  the  direct  and  unquestionable  proof  of  the  divine 
mission  of  his  Son  as  a  Teacher — and  of  the  infallible  truth  of 

1  Mat,  iii.  17  ;  Iaa.,  liii.  11.     2  Acta,  iv.  27;  1  Pet.,  ii.  22.  3  Mat,  xxvii.  4. 

4  Mat.,  xxvii.  19.  5  Luke,  xxiii.  47. 

0  Luke,  xxiii.  4-22 ;  John,  xix.  4-6;  Mat,  xxvii.  24.  7  John,  viii.  46. 

8  Rev.,  i.  5.  9  1  Tim.,  vi.  13. 


158  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

his  doctrine  :  Jesus  Christ  added  this,  that  he  performed  an 
immense  multitude  of  the  most  astonishing*  miracles.  I  omit 
for  the  present  all  discussion  of  the  nature  of  miracles  and  of 
the  proof  which  may  be  thought  necessary  to  establish  their  ex- 
istence :  and  observe  here,  that  taking  the  Scriptures  as  our 
guide — and  considering  miracles  as  the  most  obvious  proof  of  the 
divine  mission  of  Christ — and  the  divine  truth  of  his  doctrine  : 
the  case  would  stand  thus  : 

(a)  The  number  of  the  miracles  of  Christ  exceeds  the  whole 
number  ever  performed,  by  all  other  persons  united.  The  learned 
Jews  compute,  that  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  till  the  de- 
struction of  the  first  temple,  but  seventy-four  miracles  are  known 
to  have  been  performed — exclusive  of  those  wrought  by  Moses, 
and  on  his  account,  which  amounted  to  seventy-six  more — making 
in  all  one  hundred  and  fifty,  for  a  period  of  more  than  thirty- 
three  centuries.  It  is  perhaps  impossible  to  compute  the  num- 
ber performed  by  Christ,  during  about  three  years.  But  when 
we  consider,  that  besides  the  particular  and  single  miracles,  which 
he  was  daily  performing — it  is  a  common  mode  of  stating  his 
wonders,  that  he  healed  many  of  various  diseases — that  he  cast 
out  many  devils — that  he  cleansed  many  lepers — that  he  healed 
many  blind,  and  lame,  and  halt,  and  deaf — that  he  restored 
many  dead  to  life — that  he  fed  many  thousands  again  and  again  ; 
when  we  reflect  that,  as  was  expressly  told  the  disciples  of  John 
the  Baptist,  when  they  came  to  enquire  concerning  Christ,  this 
was  his  constant  habit — and  the  perpetual  proof  of  his  being  the 
Son  of  God  ;  and  when  we  hear  the  Aj30stle  John  declare,  that 
what  has  been  recorded  of  the  acts  of  Christ,  are  but  a  selection 
and  sample  of  what  he  actually  performed  ;  we  cannot  avoid  the 
conclusion  that  the  number  of  his  miracles  must  have  been  im- 
mense.1 

(b)  According  to  the  Scriptures  this  power  of  working  mir- 
acles, was  immediate  and  absolute  in  Christ.  He  exercised  it  at 
his  pleasure — and  in  his  own  name — and  by  virtue  of  a  divine 
plenitude  residing  in  himself.2  Not  so  only,  but  this  power  of 
working  miracles  was  capable  of  being  conferred  by  him  upon 
others,  and  was  actually  and  largely  so  conferred  by  him.  Nay, 
that  all  the  miracles  ever  wrought  by  others,  in  any  age  of  the 

1  John,  xx.  30;  Luke,  vii.  21,  22;  Mat.,  iv.  24;  Mark,  iii.  10,  and  vi.  35,  36;  John, 
xxl  25.  2  Mat.,  viii.  2,  and  ix.  28 ;  John,  v.  18-21. 


OHAP.XI.]        CHRIST    THE    GREAT    TEACHER.  159 

church,  were  wrought — in  fact — and  as  to  most  of  them  in  form, 
in  his  name  and  by  virtue  of  his  authority  and  power.1 

(c)  The  miracles  of  Christ  were  performed  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  exhibit  his  supreme  power  and  Godhead,  with  regard  to 
every  department  of  nature,  and  creation.  The  elements — all  of 
them :  the  inferior  animals  :  man,  both  in  his  soul  and  his  body 
— both  in  life  and  death  :  angels,  both  good  and  bad  :  the  grave, 
and  death,  and  Satan.  Insomuch,  that  upon  the  most  careful 
examination  of  the  works  of  creation,  nothing  can  be  found  that 
has  not  in  some  way  been  made  tributary  to  the  exhibition  of 
Christ's  miraculous  power :  and  in  the  closest  scrutiny  of  the 
Bible  nothing  can  be  discovered  which  is  especially  ascribed  to 
Jehovah,  as  a  proof  of  his  being,  or  an  illustration  of  his  attri- 
butes— which  it  cannot  be  shown,  that  the  same  Scriptures  de- 
clare to  have  been  done  by  Christ,  or  else  distinctly  ascribed  to 
him.  It  is  not  conceivable  that  any  demonstration  could  be 
more  thorough  and  complete. 

(d)  The  miracles  of  Christ  have  also  this  stupendous  proof, 
in  themselves,  that  they  were  wrought,  and  that  they  do  com- 
pletely verify  all  that  they  were  performed  to  establish  :  namely 
— if  they  be  reduced  to  systematic  order — in  a  way  of  classifying 
the  particular  truths  touching  Christ,  his  person,  his  work,  and 
his  offices,  which  they,  respectively,  bear  the  nearest  relation  to  : 
they  will  be  found  to  contain,  and  to  present  in  a  complete  form, 
the  whole  plan  of  salvation.  Insomuch,  that  if  we  had  no  record 
of  Christ,  except  what  is  contained  in  his  miracles,  and  his  own 
explanation  of  them,  we  should  be  able  to  learn  the  way  of  life 
through  them.  This  is  at  once  a  proof  of  the  miracles  them- 
selves and  a  use  of  them  hitherto  overlooked  :  which  is  the  case 
also  with  the  parables  of  the  Lord,  as  already  intimated.  But  I 
cannot  avoid  the  belief,  that  in  both  cases  the  aspect  I  venture 
to  suggest  is  one  of  the  grandest  aspects  in  which  both  the  para- 
bles and  miracles  of  the  Lord  stand  connected  with  his  propheti- 
cal office.  For,  of  the  parables,  it  is  a  thousand  times  easier  to 
believe  that  they  are  the  product  of  a  divine  intelligence,  than 
to  believe  that  all  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  were 
accidentally  concealed  in  them,  and  that  in  a  systematical  man- 
ner, by  a  person  who  did  not  know  what  he  was  doing,  nor  even 

1  Acts,  v.  15,  1G,  and  xix.  11,  12;  Mat.,  x.  1;  Luke,  x.  1,9,19;  Mark,  xvl  17,  18 
Acts,  iii.  12-16. 


160  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

the  existence  of  one  of  the  mysteries  he  was  teaching.  In  like 
manner,  it  is  a  thousand  times  easier  to  believe  that  Christ  was 
divine  and  did  work  innumerable  miracles  :  than  to  believe  either 
that  a  series  of  amazing  transactions  illustrating  the  most  mys- 
terious attributes  and  counsels  of  God,  and  the  most  sublime 
truths  that  exist,  should  have  been  illusive,  and  accidental,  and 
fraudulent,  and  no  miracles  at  all :  or  to  believe,  that,  although 
they  were  real  miracles,  they  were  performed  by  a  person  who 
was  totally  ignorant  of  their  nature,  and  even  of  the  very  truths 
concealed  under  his  own  stupendous  acts. 

5.  There  is  much  that  remains  untouched  of  this  glorious 
work  of  our  Saviour,  in  his  leading  us  from  darkness  into  his 
marvellous  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  This 
much,  however,  may  suffice,  perhaps,  to  direct  our  minds  in  the 
proper  channel  of  investigation — while  it  sets  before  the  sincere 
enquirer,  some  of  the  cardinal  truths  upon  which  the  people  of 
God,  in  all  ages  have  rested  with  confidence  and  joy,  and  upon 
which  the  gospel  itself  reposes  as  a  way  of  life  to  man.  It  is 
for  us,  not  only  to  accept  Christ  as  our  prophet,  but  to  accept  his 
divine  teachings  in  the  full  comprehension,  and  the  earnest  love 
of  them.  It  is  in  this  manner,  only,  that  they  become  a  lamp 
unto  our  feet,  and  a  light  upon  our  path  ;  or  that  we  can  be  trans- 
formed, from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 
It  is  when  we  obey  the  commandment,  that  we  know  the  doc- 
trine, whether  it  be  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OFFICES  EXECUTED  BY  THE  MEDIATOR:  CHRIST  THE  GREAT 
HIGH  PRIEST. 

I.  1.  Summary  of  the  personal  facts  which  historically  contain  and  set  forth  the  Priestly 
Office  of  Christ. — 2.  Expiation  by  bloody  sacrifices,  at  once  propitiatory  and 
vicarious,  a  fundamental  idea  in  the  religion  of  all  nations. — 3.  Origin  and  per- 
petuity thereof. — A.  The  First  Born  and  the  Passover. — 5.  The  Priesthood  and 
the  Sacrificial  system. — II.  1.  The  idea  of  Priesthood  and  Sacrifice,  in  connexion 
with  Christ. — 2.  Developed. — 3.  Not  after  the  order  of  Aaron. — 4.  But  after  that 
of  Melchisedek. — 5.  Conception  of  it  as  vested  in  Christ. — 6.  The  Lord  our  Right- 
eousness.— 7.  The  manner  in  which  this  is  possible  and  actual. — III.  1.  The 
obedience  and  sacrifice  of  the  Lord  Jesus — and  thereby  the  everlasting  righteous- 
ness whereby  men  may  be  saved. — 2.  Christ  obeys  for  us  and  suffers  for  us. — 
3.  The  propitiatory  sufferings  of  Christ.  — 4.  They  were  vicarious. — 5.  The  infinite 
worth  and  efficacy  both  of  the  obedience  and  the  sacrifice  of  Christ. — IV.  1.  The 
intercession  of  Christ. — 2.  Nature  thereof. — (a.)  He  makes  it  in  Heaven,  as  our 
High  Priest. — (&.)  Through  the  perpetual  application  to  us  of  the  Yirtuo  of  liis 
own  Mediatorial  Work. — (c.)  Giving  us  access  with  confidence  and  acceptable- 
ness,  to  God. — (d.)  Making  our  persons  and  services  acceptable  to  God — and 
giving  us  peace  and  joy  therein. — (e.)  In  some  degree  making  us  Priests  unto 
God,  in  our  offerings  unto  him. — 3.  General  view  of  this  part  of  Christ's  Priestly 
Office. — L  Except  upon  the  condition  of  the  vicarious  satisfaction  for  sin  by 
Christ — the  salvation  of  man  is  impossible. 

I. — 1.  Amongst  the  things  that  relate  to  the  person  and  work 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  these  are  clearly  stated  in  the  Scriptures  : 
namely,  that  he  was  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  womb 
of  the  Virgin  Mary  :  that  he  lived  a  life  of  spotless  purity — but 
at  the  same  time  of  great  privation,  trial  and  suffering  :  that  he 
scrupulously  obeyed  the  law  of  God  in  all  things  :  that  he  was 
rejected  of  the  Jews — and  accused  by  them,  before  the  tribunal 
of  the  Eoman  governor  of  Judea  :  that  he  was  condemned  and 
crucificed — under  circumstances  of  great  cruelty,  injustice  and 
ignominy  :  that  he  endured,  before  his  crucifixion,  and  especially 
on  one  remarkable  occasion  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  inex- 
pressible anguish,  and  that  upon  the  cross  his  torture  was  unut- 

II 


162  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

terable  :  that  upon  the  third  day  after  his  crucifixion,  he  rose 
from  the  dead,  and  about  the  fortieth  day  after  his  resurrection 
ascended  into  heaven  :  that  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  not  many 
days  after,  the  Holy  Ghost  was  wonderfully  and  miraculously 
poured  out  :  that  in  his  infinite  exaltation,  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  Father,  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  his  people — 
and  that  his  intercession  is  always  prevalent :  and  that  he  will 
come  again  in  great  glory,  to  judge  the  quick  and  dead.  These 
facts,  I  repeat,  are  distinctly  stated  and  continually  insisted  on 
in  the  Scriptures,  as  constituting  an  outline  of  what  may  be 
called  the  personal  history  of  Christ.  They  are  all  intimately 
related  to  each  other  :  they  all  mutually  illustrate  and  con- 
firm each  other :  and  taken  together  they  constitute  a  con- 
nected and  clear  exhibition  of  one  aspect  of  the  Mediatorial  work 
of  Christ.  For  these  are,  historically,  the  facts  which  contain 
and  set  forth,  the  Priestly  Office  of  the  Mediator  between  God 
and  men.  As  they  are  obscured  by  human  glosses,  or  explained 
away  by  the  perverse  ingenuity  of  wicked  men,  the  Priesthood  of 
the  Messiah  is  rendered  more  and  more  indistinct,  and  the  fun- 
damental ground  of  our  salvation  crumbles  away.  As  they  are 
accepted  in  their  fulness,  and  interpreted  in  the  sense  ascribed  to 
them  by  God,  the  work  of  Redemption  by  Jesus  Christ,  as  the 
great  High  Priest  of  our  profession,  stands  palpably  before  us  in 
its  infinite  certainty  and  efficacy. 

2.  The  idea  of  the  existence  of  God,  and  our  accountability 
to  him,  has  been  discussed  in  a  former  chapter.  Whether  as  the 
result  of  a  primeval  revelation  never  utterly  lost,  or  from  what- 
ever source,  the  whole  human  family  has  held  the  belief,  that 
the  anger  of  God  might  be  propitiated  :  and  that  sacrifice,  in 
some  form  or  other  was  the  mode  of  doing  this,  most  acceptable 
to  him.  There  is  one  fact,  infinitely  humiliating  to  our  nature, 
which  places  in  the  clearest  light  the  strength  of  these  universal 
convictions,  and,  at  the  same  time  illustrates  the  abjcctness  of 
that  fear  of  God,  and  the  cruelty  of  that  sense  of  guilt,  by  which 
the  depraved  soul  of  man  is  actuated  when  left  to  itself.  There 
is  no  nation  of  whose  religious  rites  a  complete  account  has  been 
presented,  which  has  not  been  stained  with  the  blood  of  human 
sacrifices  ;  and  every  form  of  Pagan  and  idolatrous  worship 
which  the  world  ever  saw,  has  offered  up  the  souls  and  bodies  of 
human  beings,   to  propitiate  false  gods.      Nor  is  it   of  small 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE      GREAT     HIGH      PRIEST.  1G3 

moment  to  remark,  that  throughout  the  whole  world,  all  bloody 
sacrifices  in  all  the  varied  forms  of  their  religions,  have  been  con- 
sidered by  themselves,  not  only  strictly  expiatory  hut  absolutely 
vicarious.  This,  practically,  has  been  the  fundamental  and  univer- 
sal basis  on  which  the  human  race  has  sought  to  obtain  peace  with 
God  :  expiation,  by  way  of  bloody  sacrifices — including  those  of 
their  fellow  men — in  a  sense,  at  once,  propitiatory  and  vicarious. 

3.  However  we  may  be  shocked  with  the  cruelty  of  many 
heathen  rites,  and  wonder  at  the  folly  and  brutality  which  de- 
faced them  ;  we  have  only  to  remember  that  our  whole  race  had 
a  common  head,  first  in  Adam  and  afterwards  in  Noah  ;  and 
that  sacrifice  and  oblation,  have  been  essential  parts  of  the  true 
worship  of  God  in  every  age  and  under  every  dispensation  :  and 
then  we  can  easily  trace,  and  in  the  ignorance  and  degradation 
of  mankind,  easily  account  for  any  perversion  of  those  universal 
notions  of  sacrifice  and  expiation,  which  we  find  so  clearly  re- 
vealed by  God,  and  so  deeply  seated  in  the  convictions  of  man- 
kind. From  the  very  beginning,  the  patriarchal  worship  before 
the  flood  and  after  it,  exhibited  no  formal  method  of  access  to 
God,  in  which  the  pardon  of  sin  was  not  signified  and  sealed  in 
the  blood  of  victims  :  and  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  as  the  out- 
ward and  instituted  means  of  reconciliation  with  God,  was  not 
only  throughout  and  thoroughly  a  sacrificial  system,  but  its 
fundamental  doctrine  was  that  the  blood  made  atonement  for  the 
soul — and  that  without  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission.1 
To  say  that  all  these  sacrifices  were  only  typical,  is  but  to  point 
us  with  more  distinctness  to  the  real  sacrifice  of  which  they 
were  the  types,  ordained  by  God  himself.  And  the  more  clearly 
it  can  be  shown  that  the  blood  of  beasts  cannot  purify  the  soul, 
the  more  obvious  is  it  that  the  blood  of  which  God  himself  has 
made  the  blood  of  beasts  the  constant  emblem,  can  cleanse  us 
from  all  iniquity. 

4.  We  have  seen  heretofore,  that  the  first  born  of  God's 
people,  consecrated  of  him  in  Egypt  commensurately  with  the 
institution  of  the  Passover — a  priesthood  and  a  sacrifice — all 
typical  of  Christ,  were  laid  together  at  the  very  foundation  of 
the  ancient  dispensation.2  We  have  seen  them,  by  express  com- 
mand of  God,  exchanged  in  the  wilderness  for  the  tribe  of  Levi.3 
And  then  this  tribe  was  given  for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary  to 

1  Lev.,  xvii.  11 ;  neb.,  ix.  22.         s  Ex.,  xii.  and  xiii.         3  Numbers,  iii.  1-13. 


164  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

Aaron  and  his  sons,  who  were  also  of  it — and  who  were  to  wait 
exclusively  on  their  priests'  office,  to  which  they  were  consecrated 
by  such  emphatic  proceedings  under  such  express  directions  by 
God.1  And  so  amongst  the  Jews — the  priestly  office,  and  the 
sacrificial  system,  come  down  side  by  side  from  Moses  to  Christ — 
across  all  those  centuries,  during  which,  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament  were  being  delivered  to  the  church  :  and  God 
was  preparing  in  all  things,  that  fulness  of  time,  in  which  the 
great  High  Priest  should  be  revealed,  and  by  one  offering  of  him- 
self perfect  forever  them  that  are  sanctified.2 

II. — 1.  Of  all  the  work  of  Christ  as  our  Mediator,  no  part, 
perhajDs,  is  so  formally  and  largely  explained  in  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures, as  that  which  is  involved  in  his  priestly  office.  One  entire 
epistle — and  one  of  the  most  extended  of  all — is  devoted  ex- 
pressly to  the  explanation  of  this  vital  subject.  And  to  leave 
nothing  undone  that  might  place  it  in  the  strongest  light,  the 
great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  whose  vast  labors  amongst  the 
most  enlightened  heathen  whom  the  world  ever  saw,  had  given 
him  the  largest  insight  that  man  ever  had  of  the  exact  posture 
of  the  whole  question  as  it  lay  in  the  natural  mind  :  was  called 
of  God  to  treat  it  fully  and  for  all  time,  and  all  men,  in  a  discus- 
sion with  those  who  of  all  that  lived,  must  needs  have  been  most 
familiar  with  the  same  question  as  it  lay  in  the  mind  of  God,  as 
revealed  in  his  ancient  Scriptures.  It  is  Paul,  arguing  to  the 
Hebrews,  but  for  the  human  race,  the  question  of  priesthood  and 
sacrifice,  as  it  touched  on  one  side  the  person  and  work  of  Christ, 
and  on  the  other  the  salvation  of  man. 

2.  That  Messiah  should  be  a  priest,  was  the  burden  of  the 
Old  Testament  Dispensation,  whether  moral,  prophetical  or  typi- 
cal. That  Christ  was  a  priest — is  alike  the  burden  of  the  New 
Testament  Dispensation.  Without  this,  both  Dispensations  are 
emj)ty  and  incompetent.  With  it,  both  are  pregnant  with  the 
wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God.  To  this  nakedly,  neither 
Jew  nor  Greek,  had  anything  to  object :  for  neither  of  them  had 
any  idea  of  any  religion,  that  did  not  embrace  a  priesthood,  as  a 
fundamental  element.  But  what  sort  of  a  priest  ?  In  what 
sense  ?  After  what  order  ?  And  with  what  sacrifice  ?  These 
were  all  vital  questions  :  and  with  every  one  of  them  the  matter 
assumed  a  new  and  more  difficult  aspect. 

1  Lev.,  viii.  a  Heb.,  x.  14. 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE     GREAT      HIGH     PRIEST.  1G5 

3.  Not  a  priest  after  the  order  of  Aaron — is  most  certain. 
Because  undeniably,  Christ  came  of  the  tribe  of  Judah — con- 
cerning which  tribe  God  not  only  spake  nothing  touching  the 
priesthood,  but  he  had  most  plainly  prohibited — and  that  under 
the  penalty  of  death,  any  one  who  was  not  of  the  tribe  of  Levi 
and  descended  from  Aaron  himself,  from  intruding  into  the 
priestly  office.1  A  marvellous  statute,  whereby  God  obliged  him- 
self, and  staked  the  whole  Jewish  dispensation  upon  the  hazard, 
that  Aaron  should  have  male  issue  from  generation  to  generation. 
For  sixteen  centuries,  it  is  certain  he  had  : — for  eighteen  centu- 
ries more,  the  world  has  had  no  special  interest  in  this  marvel- 
lous continuance  of  the  race  of  Aaron — but  there  is  reason  to 
believe,  it  abides  until  now. 

4.  After  what  order  then  ?  David  has  told  us  plainly,  and 
Paul  has  largely  explained  it.  "  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord, 
Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand,  until  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  foot- 
stool." "  The  Lord  hath  sworn  and  will  not  repent,  thou  art  a 
Priest  forever,  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek."2  That  Melchiz- 
edek,  says  Paul,  who  was  king  of  Salem,  and  priest  of  the  Most 
High  God,  who  met  Abraham  returning  from  the  slaughter  of 
the  kings  and  blessed  him  :  and  of  whom  Moses  had  given  an 
account  so  remarkable,  so  many  ages  before.4  This  is  the  order 
of  the  priesthood  of  Christ :  the  order  of  Melchizedek,  and  not 
the  order  of  Aaron. 

5.  It  is  an  order,  before  and  above,  and  not  under  and  after, 
the  dispensation  of  types  and  shadows.  An  order  of  the  Most 
High  God — and  not  of  a  ceremonial  system.  An  order  with  the 
power  of  an  endless  life — and  not  after  the  law  of  a  carnal  com- 
mandment.5 It  is  an  order  of  Royal  Priesthood  :  for  Melchize- 
dek was  king,  as  well  as  priest  :  king  of  righteousness,  and  king 
of  peace  :c  not  an  order  of  simple  priesthood  merely  like  that 
of  Aaron.  An  order  so  kingly,  that  he  who  had  it  blessed  Abra- 
ham, as  being  greater  than  he,  and  therein  greater  by  office  not 
only  than  the  whole  Jewish  Dispensation,  priesthood  and  all : 
but  greater  even  than  the  dispensation  of  promise  which  Abra- 
ham had  as  the  father  of  the  faithful.  An  order,  above  the 
Law  and  above  the  Gospel  itself ;  for  both  of  them  hung  on  it. 

1  Heb.,  vii.  14;  Numb,  xviii.  7.  !  Psalm  ex.  1-4.  *  Heb.,  vii.  1. 

4  Gen.,  xiv.  17-19.  5  Heb.,  vii.  15.  "  Heb.,  vii  2. 

i  Heb.,  vii.  2,  and  4-10. 


166  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

It  is  an  order  not  limited  like  that  of  Aaron,  to  begin  at  a  cer- 
tain age,  and  end  at  another  :  not  limited  again,  to  a  special 
tribe  and  family  :  not  bound  for  its  efficacy,  to  a  certain  place, 
and  period,  and  rites  :  not  changed  by  death,  and  chance  :  not 
constituted  by  a  mere  induction  and  continued  by  an  endless 
succession  :  not  marked  by  every  badge  of  weakness  and  decay, 
even  to  the  changing  of  the  law  under  which  it  stood,  and  to  the 
ceaseless  manifestation  by  constant  sacrifice  for  himself,  of  the 
individual  sinfulness  of  the  very  priest.  But  it  is  an  order  so 
sublime,  that  it  did  not  behoove  it  to  count  any  descent  at  all, 
since  it  came  immediately  from  God.  Christ  being  without 
mother  as  to  his  divine  nature,  without  father  as  to  his  human 
nature,  as  the  Son  of  God  held  by  order  and  office  an  eternal 
priesthood ;  constituted  by  the  oath  of  God  under  an  everlasting 
covenant ;  to  be  exercised  at  all  times,  and  in  every  place  even 
in  heaven  itself,  and  with  infinite  liberty  and  fulness  ;  and  with- 
out any  to  succeed  him  in  his  unchangable  priesthood.  Where- 
fore, as  was  most  becoming  and  most  needful,  he  was  holy  and 
harmless  and  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners,  and  made 
higher  than  the  heavens.  Wherefore  again,  he  had  no  occasion 
to  offer  any  sacrifice  for  himself ;  and  the  single  offering  which 
he  made  of  himself,  for  the  people — was  so  infinite — that  it  per- 
fected forever  all  them  that  believe,  that  he  is  able  to  save  them 
to  the  uttermost  that  come  to  God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth 
to  make  intercession  for  them.1 

6.  This  immaculate  holiness,  and  infinite  dignity  of  our  great 
high  priest,  appertained  of  necessity  to  the  person  of  him  who 
should  fill  such  an  office."  But  besides  this  personal  necessity 
in  view  of  his  fitness  for  the  office  itself,  there  is  the  further 
need  thereof  resulting  from  the  mode  in  which  his  office  is  exer- 
cised for,  and  instead  of,  sinners  whom  he  proposes  to  reconcile 
to  God.  Tor  it  is  written,  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the 
Lord,  that  I  will  raise  unto  David  a  righteous  branch,  and  a 
king  shall  reign  and  prosper,  and  shall  execute  judgment  and 
justice  in  the  earth.  In  his  clays  Judah  shall  be  saved,  and 
Israel  shall  dwell  safely  :  and  this  is  the  name  whereby  he  shall 
be  called — The  Lord  our  Righteousness.*  3  And  again,  By 
the  obedience  of  one,  shall  many  be  made  righteous.4      And 

1  Ileb.,  vii.  passim.  a  Heb.,  vii.  26,  27.  *   Mg"jS  H*n*>. 

3  Jer.,  xxiii.  5,  6.  <  Rom.  v.  18,  19. 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE     GREAT     HIGH     PRIEST.  167 

again,  He  hath  made  him — who  knew  no  sin,  to  be  sin  for  us  : 
that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him.1  And 
again,  What  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak  through 
the  flesh,  God  sending  his  own  Son,  in  the  likeness  of  sinful 
tlesh,  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh  :  that  the  right- 
eousness of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us."  So  that  the  con- 
clusion is  irresistible — that  Christ,  by  his  perfect  obedience  to 
the  law  of  God — has  obtained  whatever  righteousness,  obedience 
to  that  law  conferred  :  that  he  did  this  for  us,  and  in  our  stead  ; 
and  thereby  procured,  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  was  ful- 
filled in  us,  and  that  we  are  made  the  righteousness  of  God 
in  him. 

7.  The  obedience  and  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  were  constant 
and  inseparable  through  his  whole  life  :  for  every  act  of  suf- 
fering was  an  act  of  obedience  too — and  every  act  of  obedience 
was  a  humiliation,  in  respect  to  his  infinite  being.  But  in 
the  contemplation  of  his  work  as  our  High  Priest,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  law  of  God,  and  the  righteousness  which  it  ex- 
acts, and  the  sanctions  by  which  it  is  sustained  ;  there  is  a 
very  obvious  distinction  between  obeying  its  precepts,  and  en- 
during its  penalty  :  and  therefore  a  very  obvious  difference  be- 
tween Christ's  paying  our  debt  of  obedience  to  it,  and  his  paying 
our  debt  of  suffering  under  it. — One  general  division  separates 
every  system  of  laws,  human  and  divine,  into  two  clearly  distinct 
parts  ;  and  into  two  only.  There  is,  first,  the  preceptive  portion 
of  the  law — wherein  is  set  forth  what  is  commanded  and  what 
is  forbidden.  And  secondly,  the  penal  portion  thereof,  wherein 
is  set  forth  the  penalty  for  transgression.  For  it  is  to  be  con- 
sidered that  where  there  is  no  penalty,  there  is  no  law,  but 
merely  advice  or  instruction.  And,  moreover,  that  in  its  very 
nature,  law,  properly  speaking,  can  confer  no  reward,  and  bestow 
no  grace,  in  the  proper  sense  of  those  terms.  It  establishes  a 
rule  of  rectitude  :  to  this,  it  exacts  obedience  :  when  that 
obedience  is  rendered — it  is  satisfied — and  he  who  renders  it  is 
righteous  according  to  that  standard  :  and  then  he  takes,  not  as 
of  reward,  nor  as  of  grace,  but  of  right,  whatever  the  law  had 
proposed  as  the  condition  of  obedience.  If  obedience  is  refused, 
there  is  nothing  left,  but  to  inflict  the  penalty.  In  the  nature 
of  the  case,  therefore,  it  is  not  possible,  for  any  law  to  save  any 

1  2  Cor.,  v.  21.  3  Rom.,  viii.  3  \. 


168  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

transgressor  ;  nor — on  the  other  hand,  to  confer  any  reward  on 
the  righteousness  of  those  who  obey  it.  But  the  righteousness 
which  results  from  the  perfect  keeping  of  the  law  of  God,  is  a 
divine  righteousness,  since  the  law  itself  is  divine.  And  this 
righteousness  was  due  from  us  :  because  the  obedience  which 
produces  it  was  due  from  us.  As  long  as  we  live  we  owe  this 
obedience  :  and,  therefore,  leaving  out  of  view,  all  our  past  trans- 
gressions, we  owe  it  still,  and  as  sinners  are  wholly  unable  to 
render  it.  It  is  this  debt  of  obedience  on  the  part  of  the  sinner, 
to  the  preceptive  portion  of  the  law  of  God,  which  Christ  has 
discharged — and  it  is  this  righteousness,  original  and  actual, 
which  the  law  required  in  the  perfect  keeping  of  itself,  which 
Christ  has  obtained  for  us,  by  his  obedience  :  just  as  it  is  the 
debt  we  owe  to  the  penal  part  of  God's  law,  on  account  of  our 
sins,  original  and  actual,  which  he  has  paid,  and  thereby  secured 
the  full  remission  of  the  whole  penalty,  as  to  us,  by  the  sacrifice 
of  himself,  through  which  he  has  merited  forgiveness  for  us.  His 
obedience  is  rendered,  in  his  office  of  Mediator,  and  his  work  as 
High  Priest.  It  is  rendered  to  God,  for  us — the  law  being  the 
absolute  rule  thereof.  When  rendered,  being  perfect,  the  law  is 
satisfied,  and  the  divine  righteousness  which  obedience  to  it  con- 
fers, ajDpertains  immediately,  and  of  absolute  right,  to  the  person 
of  Christ.  But  there,  the  whole  case  would  end,  if  it  were  not 
for  two  further  considerations.  The  first  is,  that  the  divine 
nature  of  Christ,  gives  to  his  obedience,  and  therefore  to  his 
righteousness — both  original  and  actual,  both  active  and  passive 
— an  infinite  dignity  and  value.  The  second  is,  that  as  all  this 
obedience  has  been  rendered  by  him,  as  our  Mediator,  and  our 
High  Priest,  in  our  nature,  and  in  our  place — all  whereby  he 
was  enabled  to  render  it,  and  all  that  results  from  his  having  ren- 
dered it,  inures  to  our  advantage,  both  in  the  sight  of  the  law, 
and  in  the  sight  of  God  who  gave  it  ;  and  we  are  considered  and 
treated,  just  as  we  would  have  been,  if  we  had  rendered  that 
obedience  ourselves.  We  can  see,  therefore,  how  the  facts  stated 
at  the  commencement  of  this  chapter,  concerning  the  life  of 
Christ,  lie  at  the  foundation  of  his  obedience,  as  the  first  part  of 
his  priestly  work,  and  of  our  salvation  thereby ;  and  how  com- 
pletely all  our  hopes  depend  upon  him. 

III. — 1.  Seventy  weeks,  said  Gabriel  to  the  prophet  Daniel, 
are  determined  upon  thy  people  and  upon  thy  holy  city,  to 


CHAP.  XH.]  THE     GREAT     HIGH     PRIEST.  1G9 

finish  the  transgression  and  to  make  an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make 
reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  everlasting  righteous- 
ness, and  to  seal  up  the  vision  and  prophecy,  and  to  anoint 
the  Most  Holy.1  But  now,  in  Christ  Jesus,  says  Paul,  ye  who 
sometime  were  far  off,  are  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ. 
Fur  he  is  our  peace,  who  hath  made  both  one,  and  hath  broken 
down  the  middle  Avail  of  partition  between  us  :  having  abolished 
in  his  flesh  the  enmity,  even  the  law  of  commandments  contained 
in  ordinances :  for  to  make,  in  himself  of  twain,  one  new  man — 
so  making  peace  :  and  that  he  might  reconcile  both  unto  God, 
in  one  body  by  the  cross,  so  making  peace.2  Such  statements — ■ 
and  the  number  of  them  scattered  through  every  part  of  the 
word  of  God  is  almost  beyond  computation— do  not  admit  of 
being  interpreted  except  in  such  a  sense,  as  will  attribute  the 
everlasting  righteousness  whereby  alone  men  can  be  saved,  to 
the  obedience  unto  death,  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Upon  any 
other  hypothesis  than  that  explained  by  the  SciTptures,  the 
person  and  work — the  life  and  death  of  Christ — constitute  the 
most  inscrutable  and  appalling  exhibition,  of  the  nature  and 
character  of  God.  That  the  only  perfect  life  ever  passed  on 
earth,  should  have  been  one  continued  scene  of  humiliation  and 
sorrow,  and  should  have  terminated  in  ignominy  and  blood,  is, 
by  itself  and  when  left  without  any  adequate  explanation,  the 
highest  providential  exhibition  of  God's  aversion  to  human  ex- 
cellence, or  his  inability  to  protect  it.  But  when  God  himself 
is  made  a  direct  party  to  this  fearful  proceeding,  and  when  the 
victim  is  acknowledged  to  be  related  to  him  by  ties  of  inex- 
pressible tenderness  and  force  :  the  divine  participation  in  the 
anguish,  and  sacrifice  of  Christ,  becomes  unutterably  dreadful, 
unless  there  be  that  in  it,  which  will  explain  and  justify  the  aw- 
ful tragedy.  To  say,  that  God  spared  not  his  only  begotten  Son, 
and  stop  there  :  would  have  been  felt  by  every  human  heart,  to 
have  been  an  impiety  and  a  blasphemy,  on  the  part  of  Paul. 
When  he  adds,  that  he  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  we  feel  that 
a  wholly  different  aspect  is  put  on  the  amazing  transaction  :  and 
that  an  infinite  field  of  divine  glory  and  mercy  lies  all  around  it. 
And  when  he  completes  the  proposition,  by  asserting,  that  God 
will  with  Christ,  freely  give  us  all  things,  nay  that  the  certainty 
he  will  do  this  is  far  greater  than  the  certainty  that  he  has  al- 

1  Dan.,  ix.  24.  *  Eph.,  ii.  13-16. 


170  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

ready  done  the  other  :  then  the  whole  case  stands  revealed  to 
us  in  its  infinite  proportions,  its  boundless  motives,  and  its 
eternal  objects  :  and  we  can  participate  in  his  rapturous  demon- 
stration, that  nothing  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love 
of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.1 

2.  The  obedience  and  sacrifice  of  Christ,  are  then  two  great 
acts  of  his  priesthood,  whereby  he  makes  satisfaction  to  God, 
and  reconciles  us  to  him.  An  obedience  and  a  sacrifice,  never 
disconnected,  but  capable  of  being,  to  a  certain  extent,  con- 
templated apart  :  commencing  with  his  conception  in  the  womb 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  manifested  throughout  his  whole  life  on 
earth,  and  consummated  by  his  death  on  the  cross.  It  is  the 
very  nature  and  end  of  the  priestly  office — as  the  Scriptures 
plainly  tell  us,  that  they  who  exercise  it,  are  ordained  for  men, 
in  things  pertaining  to  Gocl,  that  they  may  offer  both  gifts  and 
sacrifices  for  sin.2  So  Christ,  our  great  High  Priest,  hath  not 
only  loved  us,  but  hath  given  himself  for  us,  an  offering  and  a 
sacrifice  to  God,  for  a  sweet  smelling  savor.3  He  who  was  the 
brightness  of  God's  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person, 
and  who  upheld  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power  ;  before  he 
sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  had  first,  by 
himself,  purged  our  sins.4  For  the  very  object  of  his  coming  into 
the  world,  and  the  very  will  of  God  which  he  came  to  execute, 
was  that  we  might  be  sanctified  through  the  offering  of  the  body 
of  Jesus  Christ,  once  for  all.6  As  our  surety  and  in  our  stead, 
he  has  made  full  payment  of  all  our  debt  to  God  as  sinners  in 
his  sight,  and  set  us  free.6  By  his  sufferings  he  has  made  perfect 
satisfaction  to  the  justice  of  God,  appeasing  his  wrath,  by  the 
sacrifice  of  himself  :7  just  as  by  an  absolute  and  perfect  obedience, 
he  has  obtained  God's  favor  and  kingdom  for  us.8  By  his  suffer- 
ings meriting  for  us  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins  ;  as  by  his  ful- 
filling the  law,  he  procured  for  us  righteousness  :  both  of  which, 
are  required  for  our  justification  :  wherein  not  only  are  our  sins 
pardoned,  but  our  persons  and  services  are  accepted  as  righteous 
in  the  sight  of  God  only  for  Christ's  sake.9  We  need  not 
perish  under  the  penal  sanctions  of  the  law  of  God,  on  account 

1  Rom.,  viii.  32-39.  2  Heb.,  v.  1.  s  Eph.,  v.  2.  *  Heb.,  i.  3. 

s  Heb.,  x.  5-10  ;  Psalm  xl.  6-8.  6  Heb.,  vii.  21-25. 

7  Isa.,  liii.  5,  G ;  Job,  xxxiii.  24 ;  Phil.,  ii.  5-8 ;  1  Peter,  ii.  24 ;  1  Tim.,  ii.  6. 

8  Eph.,  i.  6 ;  Rom.,  v.  19. 

9  Rom.,  ffi.  22-25,  and  iv.  5;  2  Cor.,  v.  19-21 ;  Eph.,  L  6,  7. 


CIIAP.  XII.]  THE     GREAT     II  I  G II     PRIEST.  171 

of  our  sins  ;  and  we  may  be  saved,  through  Christ,  without 
that  perfect  obedience  to  the  law,  which  it  exacts  of  us,  and 
which  we  cannot  render.     Christ  obeys  for  us,  and  suffers  for  us. 

3.  It  is  wholly  impossible  for  us  to  comprehend  the  extent 
of  these  propitiatory  sufferings  of  Christ,  in  whatever  light  we 
attempt  to  consider  them.  His  bodily  sufferings,  throughout  his 
life,  and  in  his  death  :  his  inward  anguish  from  the  ceaseless 
contradiction  of  sinners,  and  their  ingratitude,  stupidity,  degra- 
dation, and  pollution,  as  a  source  of  inexpressible  distress  to  a 
being  absolutely  perfect,  in  a  life-long  intercourse  :  the  hiding 
of  the  face  of  God  from  him,  and  the  unutterable  bitterness  of 
his  anguish  therein  :  the  fearful  temptations  of  Satan,  once  and 
again  let  loose  upon  his  soul :  the  sins  of  the  world  imputed  to 
him,  who  alone  of  all  the  world,  knew  no  sin  :  the  curse  of  the 
law  and  its  tremendous  penalty  fallen  upon  him  ;  carry  the 
awful  action  to  its  highest  pitch.  Upon  the  cross,  the  utmost 
fury  of  every  separate  portion  and  source  of  his  agony,  pours 
over  him  in  one  combined  and  overwhelming  torrent ;  accursed  of 
the  law — forsaken  of  God — denied  by  his  followers — assaulted  by 
the  devil — enduring  the  penalty  of  sin — betrayed — condemned 
— mocked — crucified  :  he  succumbed  at  last  to  the  king  of  terrors 
— and  with  one  loud  and  bitter  cry — bowed  his  head — and  gave 
up  the  ghost  !  Such  a  spectacle,  the  universe  had  never  seen  ! 
In  all  the  universe,  God  alone  comprehended  what  it  meant  I1 

4.  It  was  for  us,  and  for  our  sins.  It  was  our  glorious  Lord, 
making,  as  a  priest,  a  vicarious  atonement  for  us.  He  was  him- 
self the  sacrifice  as  well  as  the  priest,  and  he  offered  up  himself. 
Most  needful  was  it.  For  the  justice,  the  holiness,  the  truth  of 
God  alike  demanded  it  :  and  all  his  threatenings,  and  all  his 
promises,  and  all  his  types,  absolutely  required  it.  And  most 
true  and  exact  and  complete  was  it.  For,  he  was  delivered  for 
our  offences.2  While  we  were  yet  without  strength,  in  due  time, 
Christ  died  for  the  ungodly.3  He  was  wounded  for  our  trans- 
gressions, he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  the  chastisement  of 
our  peace  was  upon  him,  and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed  :  and 
the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all.4     He  was 

i  2  Cor.,  v.  22;  John,  iv.  6,  T,  viii.  4S-52;  Luke,  iv.  2;  Isa.,  liii.  5-10;  1  Peter,  il 
24;  Mat.,  xxvi.  27,  28,  and  67;  Luke,  xxii.  44;  Rom.,  v.  7,  8;  Rev.,  xix.  15;  Mat., 
xxvi.  and  xxvii.  s  Rom.,  iv.  25. 

3  Rom.,  v.  6 ;  2  Cor.,  v.  15  ;  Mat.,  xx.  28.  *  Isa.,  liii.  5,  6. 


172  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.1  He 
redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law  by  being  made  a  curse 
for  us.*  He  hath  purchased  us  with  his  own  blood.3  He  gave 
his  life  a  ransom  for  us."  Nay,  he  is  our  expiation,6  our  propitia- 
tion,6 our  reconciliation,7  our  redemption,8  our  healing  and  our 
peace,9  and  our  Saviour.10  What  more  could  God  say,  to  make 
us  understand  and  believe  ? 

5.  As  before,  in  regard  to  the  perfect  obedience  of  Christ,  so 
now,  as  relating  to  his  sufferings,  I  recall  the  facts  concerning 
Christ,  of  which  a  summary  was  made  at  the  commencement  of 
this  chapter.  In  them,  are  held  forth  the  outline  which  lias  now 
been  rilled  up,  concerning  this  part  of  his  satisfaction  to  God,  by 
suffering,  as  before  concerning  the  other  part,  by  obedience. 
There  is  not  one  of  those  facts,  which  does  not  explain  com- 
pletely, some  portion  of  this  priestly  work  of  Christ  ;  and,  there 
is  not  one  of  them  that  is  explicable,  except  in  connection  with 
that  work.  That  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  should  be  accepted  in 
the  place  of  the  punishment  of  all  believers  in  hell  forever,  is 
utterly  impossible,  and  so  the  whole  priestly  work  of  the  Media- 
tor is  a  pure  fraud,  and  all  our  hopes  founded  upon  it  are  ab- 
surd ;  unless  Christ  was  supernaturally  born,  and  yet  a  real  man  ; 
unless  he  was  true  God  and  true  man,  in  one  divine  person  ;  un- 
less his  individual  righteousness,  both  original  and  actual,  was 
absolutely  perfect  ;  unless  his  sufferings  were  strictly  and  really 
propitiatory,  and  vicarious  ;  and  unless  some  signal  demonstra- 
tion, such  as  that  furnished  by  his  resurrection,  is  afforded  by 
God,  that  all  this  work  of  Christ  is  accepted  by  him.  And  after 
the  work  is  accepted  by  God,  its  benefits  could  never  accrue  to 
us,  unless  some  efficacious  mode  of  applying  them  to  us,  and  fit- 
ting us  to  enjoy  them,  like  that  furnished  in  the  descent  and 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  are  the  purchase  of  Christ's  satis- 
faction to  God,  were  divinely  and  certainly  assured  unto  us. 
Upon  these  conditions,  all  distinctly  and  rejieatedly  stated  in  the 
Scriptures,  but  upon  no  others,  the  infinite  dignity  and  worth  of 
the  high  priest,  God-man,  who  atoned  for  us,  by  the  sacrifice  of 
himself,  give  to  his  expiatory  sufferings,  a  value  and  sufficiency, 
equivalent  to  the  everlasting  torments  of  all  believers  :  and  se- 

«  John,  i.  29,  and  2  Cor.,  v.  21.  a  Gal,  iii.  13.  3  Acts,  xx.  28. 

4  Mat,  xx.  2S;  1  Tim.,  ii.  G.     6  Hob.,  i.  3.     6  1  John.  ii.  2.      t  2  Cor.,  v.  18,  19. 
8  Gal.,  iii.  13.        »  1  Peter,  ii.  24;  Isaiah,  liii.  5.  10  Eph.,  v.  23. 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE    GREAT    HIGH    PRIEST.  173 

cure  for  them  results  and  issues,  infinitely  certain,  and  eternal. 
He  who  has  suffered  is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  ;  and  his  per- 
son, majesty,  Godhead,  justice,  goodness,  and  righteousness, 
being  every  way  infinite  and  eternal,  made  that  which  he  suf- 
fered of  no  less  force  and  value  than  eternal  torments  upon  all 
the  world  besides  ;  and  made  all  the  results  thereof,  divinely  in- 
evitable and  immutable.1  These  effects  of  the  whole  satisfaction 
of  Christ,  as  our  high  priest,  immutable  before,  are  confirmed  untd 
the  heirs  of  promise,  by  two  immutable  things,  added  of  God, 
namely  his  counsel  and  his  oath.'  They  extend  to  all  time,  before 
and  after  his  death  on  the  cross  :  they  extend  to  the  persons  of  all 
his  children,  in  all  ages  :  they  extend  to  all  the  sins  of  all  believ- 
ers :  they  extend  to  every  obstacle  between  God  and  man.  Herein 
are  the  infinite  power  and  wisdom  of  God,  made  tributary  to  his 
eternal  love  ;  through  the  unsearchable  riches  of  his  grace,  his 
divine  justice  is  not  only  satisfied  in  the  salvation  of  sinners,  but 
in  a  manner  it  exacts,  for  Christ's  sake,  that  all  who  have  been 
given  to  him  in  the  covenant  of  redemption,  should  be  brought 
off  conquerors  and  more  than  conquerors  through  him  who  loved 
them,  and  gave  himself  for  them.3 

IV. — 1.  To  intercede  for  the  people,  and  to  bless  them, 
which  indeed  is  but  a  species  of  intercession,  appertain  to  the 
nature  of  the  priestly  office  :  and  so,  in  all  ages,  amongst  all 
people,  and  in  all  religions,  it  has  been  understood.  It  was  an 
express,  and  important  part  of  the  priestly  office  under  the  Old 
Testament  Dispensation.  Let  the  priests,  the  ministers  of  the 
Lord,  weep  between  the  porch  and  the  altar,  and  let  them  say, 
Spare  thy  people  0  Lord,  and  give  not  thine  heritage  to  re- 
proach.4 The  very  name  of  the  priest,'-'  in  both  the  sacred 
languages,  meant  one  consecrated  to  God  that  he  might,  as  one 
sacred,  offer  sacrifices  and  offerings  unto  him  and  intercede 
with  him.  And  so,  of  Christ  it  is  written,  that  he  is  ever  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,  where  he  maketh  intercession  for  ue  :'  that 
in  heaven  itself,  he  appears  in  the  presence  of  God,  for  us  :G  and 
that  his  ability  to  save  us,  to  the  uttermost,  depends  upon  his 
endless  life  and  ceaseless  intercession.7     The  doctrine  clearly  is. 

1  Heb.,  vi.  18.  s  Heb.,  vi.  13.  3  1  John,  i.  9 ;  John,  xvii.  passim. 

*  Joel,  ii.  17;  Ex.,  xxiL  11,  12;  Deut,  is.  26-29. 

*  1~3, — Upevt — Sacerdos — Priest.  5  Rom.,  viii.  34. 
6  Ileb.,  ix.  24.                        »  Heb.,  yii.  25  ;  1  John,  ii.  1 ;  1  Peter,  n.  5. 


174  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

that  lie  alone,  continually  appears  in  our  nature  before  his  Father 
in  heaven  for  his  elect,  in  his  own  infinite  worthiness  :  making 
the  persons  of  all  believers,  and  their  approaches  before  God 
acceptable,  by  applying  the  merits  of  his  perfect  satisfaction  unto 
them  :  and  through  the  infinite  value  of  his  own  obedience  and 
sacrifice,  removing  and  covering  over  all  the  pollution  of  them- 
selves and  their  good  works,  and  presenting  them  and  their  serv- 
ices, as  faultless  before  God.1 

2.  There  are  various  ways  in  which  this  intercession  of  Christ 
is  represented  in  the  Scriptures,  as  to  the  things  to  which  it 
relates,  the  fruits  that  flow  from  it,  the  modes  in  which  we  are 
interested  in  it,  and  the  relation  it  has  to  Christ's  glorious  work 
and  purchased  kingdom. — Thus  : 

(a)  It  is  as  the  great  High  Priest,  passed  into  the  holiest  of 
all,  that  all  his  intercession  is  offered  :  and  the  intercession  it- 
self, is  founded  upon  the  work  which  he,  as  priest,  has  performed 
on  earth  :  and  its  prevalence  depends  on  the  infinite  perfection 
of  that  work,  and  its  entire  acceptableness  to  God. 

(b)  He  makes  continual  request,  for  us,  and  in  our  names,  to 
God  the  Father  :  frees  us  from  the  accusations  of  our  enemies 
before  God,  and  above  all  from  the  accusations  of  Satan,  the 
great  enemy  of  our  souls  :  and  covers  over  our  sins,  from  the 
sight  of  God,  by  applying  unto  us  the  virtue  of  his  Mediation  : 
and  so  reconciles  us  to  God  the  Father,  in  our  daily  offences  and 
shortcomings. 

(c)  He  teaches  us  by  his  Spirit,  in  all  things,  and  especially 
to  send  up  supplication  and  prayer,  for  ourselves  and  others  : 
presents  our  prayers  to  God,  and  makes  them  acceptable  in  his 
sight  :  gives  to  us  access,  with  boldness,  to  the  throne  of  grace  : 
and  reconciling  us  to  God  as  his  children,  through  our  brother- 
hood with  Christ,  enables  us  to  come  to  him  with  confidence,  as 
to  our  Father. 

(d) '  Through  the  intercession  of  Christ,  our  good  works  are 
made  acceptable  to  God,  and  rewarded  with  infinite  fulness  and 
richness  ;  so  that  not  even  a  purpose,  or  desire,  for  the  promo- 
tion of  his  glory,  is  left  without  note  and  price  on  his  part.  Our 
persons  also,  are  accepted  of  God,  in  our  daily  services,  trials, 
infirmities  and  dangers,  and  are  precious  in  his  sight  :  and  quiet 
of  conscience,  and  peace  of  mind,  notwithstanding   sins,  and 

1  Hob.,  i.  3,  ix.  24 ;  Epb..,  i.  6 ;  1  Peter,  ii.  5. 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE    GREAT    IIIGH     PRIEST.  175 

cares,  and  anxieties,  are  made  our  constant  portion  while  we 
live  near  to  Christ. 

(c)  Nay  in  a  manner,  we  become  ourselves  priests  unto  God 
through  the  intercession  of  Christ  :  for  being  accepted  and  sanc- 
tified, we  have  freedom  and  boldness,  to  draw  nigh,  and  offer  up 
our  souls,  uiir  bodies,  and  all  that  we  have  and  are,  as  a  reason- 
able service  and  living  sacrifice  unto  God  the  Father.  And  as  a 
spiritual  priesthood,  we  are  permitted  to  offer,  in  spiritual  sacri- 
fice, our  obedience,  prayers,  and  thanksgiving  to  God  :'  which, 
however  unworthy  in  themselves,  are  made  acceptable  to  God, 
through  the  merit  and  intercession  of  our  adorable  High  Priest.'-' 

3.  The  absolute  necessity  of  this  intercession  of  Christ  for 
his  children  as  they  pass,  one  by  one,  through  this  vale  of  tears  : 
the  infinite  efficacy  of  it,  which  is  the  very  foundation  of  all  our 
trust  in  Christ  as  our  very  present  help  in  every  time  of  need : 
the  glorious  extent  of  it,  commensurate  with  the  design,  and 
therefore  with  the  efficacious  effects  of  the  other  parts  of  his 
priestly  work  :  the  administration  of  it,  variously,  before  his  In- 
carnation, during  the  days  of  his  flesh  and  Suffering,  and  since 
his  Resurrection,  and  Ascension  into  heaven  :  all  these  are  topics 
which  hang  upon  the  more  fundamental  points  already  discussed, 
and  which  find  their  solution,  not  only  in  the  express  words  of 
Scripture,  but  in  the  controlling  relations  of  the  whole  subject, 
according  to  that  divine  proportion  of  Faith,  which  we  are  plainly 
commanded  to  make  the  rule  of  all  spiritual  instruction.3  Other 
topics  also,  of  the  deepest  import,  and  some  of  them  occasions  of 
no  small  division  amongst  the  followers  of  Christ,  stand  related 
more  or  less  directly  to  the  priestly  office  of  Christ,  as  the  Media- 
tor of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  :  the  chief  of  which  will  be  dis- 
cussed, as  we  advance  further  into  the  great  subject  of  Sal- 
vation. 

4.  The  ii. finite  certainty  of  the  adequate  punishment  of  sin, 
throughout  every  portion  of  the  dominions  of  God.  shines  forth 
with  overpowering  clearness  in  all  that  relates  to  the  priestly 
office  of  Christ.  The  soul  that  sinneth,  shall  die  :*  this  is  the 
fundamental  and  invariable  law,  that  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
the  whole  moral  government  of  God.  Let  us,  then,  rest  per- 
fectly assured,  that  sin  and  punishment  go  together  inseparably, 
under  the  almighty  and  everlasting  sway  of  God.     An  uncon- 

1  1  Peter,  ii.  5.        5  Mark,  x.  41,  42.         3  Rom.,  xii.  6.        *  Ezek.,  rviil  20. 


176  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

trollable  necessity  results  from  this,  that  Christ  must  have  made 
an  expiatory  sacrifice,  and  that  he  must  have  been  possessed  of 
infinite  worth  in  all  his  work  of  satisfaction  ;  or  else,  that  no 
soul  of  man  can  escape  hell,  through  him.  As  I  have  shown 
before,  the  supreme  Godhead  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
absolute  vicariousness  of  the  satisfaction  made  by  him,  may 
therefore  be  confidently  asserted,  to  be  the  indispensable  condi- 
tions of  our  salvation.  Upon  these  two  conditions,  the  salvation 
of  believers  becomes  not  only  possible,  but  inevitable.  For  if 
Christ  died  in  their  room  and  stead,  and  if  his  sacrifice  was  in- 
finitely meritorious,  their  redemption  and  salvation  are  made  as 
certain,  as  their  destruction  was  before.  So  that  the  everlast- 
ing glory  and  blessedness  of  those  who  are  united  to  Christ,  is 
as  certain  as  that  Christ  was  the  Great  High  Priest  of  his 
people,  in  the  sense  herein  taught  after  the  word  of  God. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

OFFICES  EXECUTED  BY  THE   MEDIATOR :— CHRIST  THE  ONLY 
KING  IX  ZIOX. 

I  1.  In  the  universal  belief  of  his  own  age,  Jesus  claimed  to  be  both  divine  and  royal. 
— 2.  The  Kingly  office  of  Christ,  as  Mediator. — '■'■  Ho  ia  the  Son  of  Jehovah — 
and  reigns  in  Zion  by  his  decree. — 4.  Prophetic  account  of  him,  as  such. — 5.  Dis- 
tinctive facts: — (a.)  His  person: — (b.)  His  manner  of  holding  and  ruling  his 
kingdom: — (c.)  On  the  throne  of  David — after  Judah  has  lost  the  sceptre : — (d.) 
This  is  an  endless  kingdom — under  an  everlasting  King,  who  shall  be  called 
Jesus : — (e.)  There  shall  be  an  endless  increase  of  his  dominion  and  peace — amidst 
the  ruin  of  all  other  kingdoms : — (/.)  The  zeal  of  Jehovah  will  accomplish  this : — 
(g.)  Five  titles  expressive  of  his  character  and  dominion  arc  bestowed  on  him — 
C.  These  titles  explained — 'Wonderful. — 7.  Counsellor. — 8.  The  Mighty  God. — 
9.  The  Everlasting  Father. — 10.  The  Prince  of  Peace. — 11.  This  is  King  Imman- 
ucl — whom  they  derided  as  "one  Jesus.'* — II.  The  kingly  aspect  of  the  Media- 
torial office. — 1.  Further  and  more  glorious  manifestations  thereof. — 2.  His  par- 
ticular kingdom  as  Mediator,  is  spiritual  and  eternal — 3.  In  both  respects  it  exacts 
the  perpetuity  of  his  presence,  both  as  divine  and  regal. — i.  The  government  of  his 
kingdom : — (a.)  It  is  his  by  creation — by  inheritance — by  covenant — by  purchas3 
— by  conquest : — (&.)  It  is  utterly  incompetent  to  exist  or  act,  except  in  and  under 
Christ : — (c.)  Ruler,  Lawgiver,  and  Judge,  he  must  be — and  besides  must  mako 
us  willing  and  able— or  his  kingdom  must  perish : — (d.)  It  appertains  to  him  to 
confer  every  distinction,  every  reward,  every  benefit,  and  every  blessing,  both  in 
time  and  in  eternity. — 5.  The  protection,  enlargement,  and  defence  of  his  kingdom: 
— (a.)  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it : — (6.)  Xor  against  a  single 
believing  and  penitent  member  of  it : — (c.)  The  efficient  cause  of  all  this,  is  of 
that  nature,  that  failure  is  impossible : — (rf.)  The  unavoidable  certainty  of  infinite 
and  eternal  triumph. — C.  Kingly  office  of  Christ — like  prophetic  and  priestly  offi- 
ces— not  only  supreme,  but  exclusive. 

I. — 1.  When'  Paul  and  Silas  had  preached  at  Thessalonica, 
during  three  Sabbath  days,  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ ;  some  of 
the  Jews,  and  a  great  multitude  of  the  Greeks,  and  a  few  of  the 
chief  women  believed.  But  the  Jews  which  believed  not,  stirred 
up  the  city,  and  a  company  of  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort; 
missing  Paul  and  Silas,  haled  Jason,  who  had  received  them, 
;md  certain  brethren  with  them,  before  the  rulers  of  the  city. 
Their  fierce  cry  was,  that  they  who  had  turned  the  world  upside 

12 


178  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK    II. 

down,  are  come  hither  also  ;  whom  Jason  hath  received,  and  these 
all  do  contrary  to  the  decrees  of  Cresar,  saying  that  there  is  an- 
other king,  one  Jesus.1  So  also,  the  infuriated  multitude  which 
led  Jesus  before  Pilate,  accused  him  with  perverting  the  nation, 
by  teaching,  as  they  said,  that  he  himself  is  Christ,  a  king." 
And  when  Pilate  asked  him,  Art  thou  the  king  of  the  Jews  ?  he 
answered  and  said,  Thou  sayest  it.  They  platted  a  crown  of 
thorns  and  put  it  on  his  head,  and  they  put  on  him  a  purple 
robe,  and  said  Hail  king  of  the  Jews,  and  they  smote  him  with 
their  hands.  And  when  Pilate  sought  to  release  him,  the  Jews 
cried  out  that  he  ought  to  die,  by  their  own  law,  because  he  made 
himself  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  by  the  Eoman  law  also,  because 
whosoever  maketh  himself  a  king,  speaketh  against  Cassar.  And 
Pilate  wrote  a  title  in  Hebrew,  and  Greek,  and  Latin,  and  put 
it  on  the  cross  :  and  the  writing  was,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the 
King  of  the  Jews  ;  a  title  which  he  refused  to  change  when 
urged  to  do  so  by  the  chief  priests.3  In  the  universal  popular 
mind,  therefore,  of  the  days  of  Christ,  and  of  those  immediately 
succeeding,  the  fixed  impression  was,  that  Jesus  claimed  to  be 
both  royal  and  divine  :  and  the  distinct  grounds  upon  which  he 
was  arraigned  and  crucified  were  blasphemy  under  the  Jewish 
law,  in  that  he  made  himself  the  Son  of  God,  and  high  treason 
under  the  Eoman  law,  in  that  he  made  himself  a  king. 

2.  That  he  claimed  to  be,  and  that  he  was,  the  Son  of  God  ; 
and  the  connection  of  that  fundamental  truth  with  our  salva- 
tion, has  been  heretofore  considered  at  large.  That  as  the  Son 
of  God,  and  so  the  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  one  of  his 
grand  offices  was  to  be  our  King,  is  the  subject  of  our  present 
consideration.  And  on  the  threshold  of  it,  we  ought  to  bear  in 
mind  that  all  the  treasures  both  of  the  prophetical  and  priestly 
offices  of  Christ,  are  bestowed  upon  us,  by  means  of  his  kingly 
office.  His  Apostles  carry  to  such  a  height,  the  doctrine  of  his 
absolute  and  universal  sway,  that  one  of  them  asserts  in  the  most 
precise  terms,  that  Christ  Jesus,  who  before  Pontius  Pilate,  wit- 
nessed a  good  confession,  is  the  blessed  and  only  Potentate,  the 
King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords.4  And  another  Apostle  to 
whom  the  inmost  depths  of  heaven  were  opened,  saw  there  one 
called  "  The  word  of  God,"  clothed  in  a  vestment  dipped  in 
blood,  followed  by  the  armies  which  are  in  heaven,  treading  the 

1  Acts,  xvii.  5-7.         a  Luke,  xxiii.  1.         3  j0i1D)  xjx>  i_21.        4  1  Tim.,  vi.  13-1& 


CHAP.  XIII.]  THE    ONLY    KING    IN    ZION.  179 

winepress  of  the  fierceness  of  the  wrath  of  Almighty  God  ;  and 
on  his  vesture,  and  on  his  thigh  a  name  written,  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of*  lords.1  So  that  even  to  the  most  careless  reader  of 
the  Scriptures,  the  need  is,  not  to  prove  the  Kingly  Office  of 
Christ,  but  to  illustrate  its  nature  and  fruits. 

3.  Notwithstanding  the  rage  of  the  heathen,  the  vain  opposi- 
tion of  the  nations,  the  hatred  of  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the 
counselling  together  of  its  rulers  against  the  Lord  and  against 
his  Anointed  ;  still,  saith  God,  who  holds  them  all  in  derision,  I 
have  set  my  king  upon  my  holy  hill  of  Zion  ;  I  will  declare  the 
decree  ;  the  Lord  hath  said  unto  me,  Thou  art  my  son  :  this  day 
have  I  begotten  thee.  Ask  of  me  and  I  will  give  thee  the 
heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  for  thy  possession.  Thou  shalt  break  them  with  a  rod  of 
iron  :  thou  shalt  dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel.' 
That  is  to  say,  there  is  a  divine  King,  the  Son  of  Jehovah,  con- 
stituted by  an  eternal  decree,  which  is  at  last  declared  to  men  : 
his  throne  is  in  Zion,  where  he  reigns  over  and  in  the  bosom  of 
the  church  of  the  living  God,  and  thereunto  he  is  anointed  by 
God  himself:  the  heathen  also,  even  to  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth,  shall  be  his  inheritance  and  his  possession,  and  he 
shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron  :  when  his  wrath  is  kindled 
but  a  little,  all  his  enemies  perish  from  the  way  :  but  all  they 
that  put  their  trust  in  him  are  blessed.'  If  it  were  possible  to 
doubt  that  all  this  applies  to  Christ,  that  doubt  is  removed  by 
its  being  repeatedly  quoted  in  the  New  Testament  as  expressly 
describing  him.  A  single  sentence  of  it  is  quoted  three  times, 
by  a  single  Apostle.  In  one  instance  to  show  that  God  had  ful- 
filled in  Christ  his  promise  to  the  Fathers,  beginning  with  that 
primeval  promise  that  the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  the 
head  of  the  serpent  :4  in  another  to  show  the  infinite  superiority 
of  Christ  to  all  the  angels  of  God  :5  and  in  the  third  to  illustrate 
the  manner  in  which  he  was  glorified  of  God  in  the  kingly  as 
well  as  in  the  priestly  office.'' 

4.  Perhaps  the  most  special  and  comprehensive  statement  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  and  in  connection  with  it  of  the  person 
and  glory  of  Christ  himself,  which  is  contained  in  the  word  of 
God,  Ls  that  most  remarkable  one  uttered  by  the  prophet  Isaiah, 

1  Rev.,  xix.  11-1G.  a  Psalm  ii.  G-10.  3  Psalm  ii.  passim. 

*  Acts,  xiii.  33  ;  Gen.,  iii.  15.     6  Heb.,  i.  5.  •  Ileb.,  v.  5. 


ISO  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

in  the  midst  of  the  thick  darkness  then  overhanging  the  Messia- 
nic Kingdom.  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given  : 
and  the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder  :  and  his  name 
shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the 
Everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace.  Of  the  increase  of  his 
government  and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end,  upon  the  throne  of 
David  and  upon  his  kingdom,  to  order  it,  and  to  establish  it, 
with  judgment  and  with  justice  from  henceforth  even  forever. 
The  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  will  perform  this.1  Nor  is  there 
any  part  of  this  statement,  or  any  idea  contained  in  it,  either 
explicitly  or  implicitly,  which  is  not,  in  other  portions  of  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures  again  and  again  applied  to  Christ  ; 
and  which  is  not  repeatedly  and  habitually,  throughout  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures  used  as  descriptive  of  his  person  and  his 
work,  as  being  the  only  wise  God  and  the  King  eternal,  immor- 
tal and  invisible,  to  whom  honor  and  glory  are  due  forever  and 
ever.2 

5.  Herein,  then,  it  is  revealed  to  our  faith,  that  touching  the 
Kingly  Office  of  the  Mediator,  the  great  facts  stand  thus  : 

(a)  That  he  is  born  as  a  child,  and  given  to  his  people  as 
one  of  their  own  sons.  Namely  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  which 
is  the  first  incontrovertible  truth  of  the  mystery  of  Godliness  ; 
and  which  has  been  heretofore  fully  discussed.3 

(b)  That  he  shall  possess  and  execute  the  government  per- 
sonally, immediately,  and  directly  :  holding  it  in  his  own  right, 
as  purchased  by  his  own  blood,  and  conquered  by  his  own  word 
and  Spirit  :  the  burden,  as  well  as  the  glory  of  it,  shall  be  upon 
his  own  shoulder,  and  he  shall  execute  all  things  in  it,  by  his 
own  authority,  efficiency,  and  virtue,  personally  or  through  his 
divine  Spirit.4 

(c)  That  the  throne  and  kingdom  of  his  father  David,  shall 
be  the  immediate  and  original  seat  of  his  dominion,  which  shall 
have  no  end.  Shiloh  has  come  and  the  sceptre  has  departed 
from  Judah  :  but  it  is  only  that  it  may  pass  into  the  hands  of 
the  true  Lawgiver,  who  shall  wield  it  forever,  and  unto  whom 
shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be.5 

(d)  That  he  shall  order  and  establish  this  particular  domin- 
ion with  justice  and  judgment,  forever.    For,  thy  throne,  0  God 

1  Isa.,  ix.  6,1.  5  1  Tim.,  i.  17.  3  1  Tim.,  iii.  16. 

4  John,  xvi.  7,  16.  5  Gen.,  xlix.  10. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  THE    ONLY    KING    IN    ZION.  181 

is  forever  and  ever  :  the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom  is  a  right  scep- 
tre.1 The  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  him  the  throne  of  his  father 
David  ;  and  he  Bhall  reign  over  the  house  of  Jacob  forever  :  and 
of  his  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end.  And  thou  shalt  call  hi> 
name  Jesus.2 

(e)  That  there  shall  be  an  increase  of  his  government  and 
with  it  of  peace  :  peace  with  God  that  shall  know  no  end  :  peace 
in  the  church  of  God  :  peace  of  conscience  :  spiritual  peace. 
At  the  same  time  a  dashing  and  breaking  to  pieces  of  all  other 
powers  and  dominions  :'  and  the  extension  of  his  dominion  from 
sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.6 

(/)  That  the  zeal  of  Jehovah  himself,  will  perfom  all  this. 
For  he  will  remove  every  obstacle,  and  crush  every  hindrance, 
and  break  over  every  barrier  whether  presented  in  the  weak- 
ness and  sinfulness  of  his  people,  or  in  the  enmity  of  men  and 
devils." 

(<j)  That  the  titles  which  God  uses  to  designate  this  ever- 
lasting and  universal  King,  and  to  set  forth,  as  far  as  titles  can, 
his  nature,  his  dominion  and  his  acts,  and  to  illustrate  as  fully 
as  by  that  means  may  be  done,  his  character  and  renown,  are 
these,  namely  :  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the 
Everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

6.  These  titles  declare  unto  us  the  person,  and  the  attributes 
of  Christ  as  he  is  the  King  in  Zion,  and  as  he  is  the  King  of 
kings.  The  first  of  these  is  his  name  Wonderful*  His  name, 
says  the  prophet,  shall  be  called  Wonderful ;  thus  heaven  and 
earth  shall  express  their  sense  of  what  he  is,  and  what  he  does. 
As  regards  his  person,  he  is  Immanuel :  as  regards  his  work  he 
is  the  Mediator :  as  regards  his  Estates  they  are  infiuitc  Humil- 
iation succeeded  by  infinite  Exaltation  :  as  regards  his  Offices 
he  is  Prophet,  Priest  and  King,  in  both  Estates.  In  all  things 
he  is  Wonderful.  No  less  so  in  what  he  docs  than  in  what  he 
is.  He  is  the  Creator  of  the  Universe  ;  the  Preserver  and  Bene- 
factor of  men  and  angels  and  all  inferior  creatures  ;  the  Iie- 
deemer  of  his  elect.  In  every  point  of  view,  Christ  is  so  utterly 
removed  from  all  comparison  with  all  else,  and  is  so  unspeakably 
above  and  separate  from  all  other  excellence,  and  glory  ;  that 

1  Psalm  xlv.  6.  a  Luke,  i  31-33.  3  Rom.,  t.  1;  Eph.,  ii.  14-17. 

«  Psalm  ii.  8,  9.  s  Zecli.,  ix.  10.  8  2  Kings,  xix.  31. 

*  kVe— Miralile. 


182  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOL>.  [BOOK  li. 

the  Holy  Ghost  applies  to  him  the  title  of  Wonderful  as  the 
foundation  of  all  the  rest  of  his  titles  :  expressing  thereby  not 
only  what  he  is,  of  himself,  but  what  he  is  in  respect  of  every 
thing  signified  by  every  other  title  applied  to  him. 

7.  Thus  he  is  next  called  Counsellor*  He  is  the  Wonderful 
Counsellor  :  the  Wonderful  in  Counsel.  So  that  the  eternal 
and  universal  government  which  is  upon  his  shoulder,  is  executed 
with  infinite  wisdom  and  counsel  :  and  not  one  act  of  it  was  ever 
or  ever  will  be  performed  inconsiderately  or  unskilfully  :  nor  will 
one  ever  be  reversed.  And  this  boundless  wisdom  in  counsel, 
directed  by  an  authority  infinitely  kingly,  not  only  guides  the 
universe  and  all  that  is  in  it :  but  it  is  accessible  to  the  humblest 
of  his  people,  for  his  ear  is  ever  attentive  to  their  cry.  Freely 
and  unchangeably,  by  the  most  wise  and  holy  counsel  of  his  own 
will,  hath  God  from  all  eternity  ordained  whatsoever  comes  to 
pass  :  and  yet  in  the  Wonderful  Counsellor  has  this  been  so 
done,  both  as  to  men  and  as  to  events,  that  no  violence  is  offered 
to  the  freedom  of  the  one,  or  to  the  contingency  of  the  other.1 

8.  The  name  which  follows  is  The  Mighty  God.f  He  is  in- 
vested with  all  strength  and  might,  as  well  as  with  all  wisdom 
and  counsel.  The  Lord  is  wonderful  in  working  as  well  as  won- 
derful in  counsel.2  All  power,  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  is  given 
unto  him  ;  and  he  hath  promised  to  exert  it  all,  in  support  of 
those  who  teach  all  nations  all  his  commandments.  So  that  the 
infinite  might  as  well  as  the  unsearchable  counsel,  in  all  the 
wondrousness  of  both,  are  made  tributary  to  the  Kingly  office 
and  authority  of  Christ.  The  Wonderful,  as  he  is  the  Counsel- 
lor, and  as  he  is  The  Mighty  God,  sits  upon  the  throne  of  David, 
God's  King  upon  his  holy  hill  of  Zion,  the  King  of  kings  and 
the  Lord  of  lords.  So  that  while  he  rules  the  universe,  exalted 
far  above  all  principality  and  power,  and  might  and  dominion, 
as  head  over  his  church,  and  therein  head  over  all  things  :3  he 
condescends  with  exceeding  greatness  of  power,  to  usward  who 
believe,  to  work  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  ;  and  that  with  an 
infinite  goodness  and  satisfaction  on  his  part,  towards  us  in  all 
our  attempts  to  wrork  out  our  own  salvation.4 

9.  There  follow  two  additional  titles,  which  in  some  respects, 
may  be  said  to  depend  upon,  and  flow  from  those  already  con- 

*  V8^'  —  Consiliarius.        1  Eph.,  i.  11;  Acts,  iL  23.         f  "I'SS  Vs — Deus  Fortis. 
2  Isa.,  sxviii.  29.  3  Eph.,  i.  22.  «  Phil.,  ii.  12,  13 ;  Eph.,  i.  19-23. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  THE     ONLY     KING    IN     Z I  0  N .  183 

sidered,  ami  which  yet  in  other  respects  have  a  substantive  char- 
acter of  their  own.  For  although  it  is  not  possible  to  conceive 
that  the  things  signified  in  the  three  preceding  titles  should  ap- 
pertain to  Christ,  Avithout  those  which  are  signified  by  the  two 
which  succeed,  i'olloA\'ing  thereupon  ;  yet  it  is  very  conceiA'able 
that  the  latter  might  exist,  without  necessarily  implying  the  ex- 
istence of  all  the  former.  Wherefore  these  tAvo  are  distinctly 
added.  First,  namely,  that  he  is  The  Everlasting  Father  ;* 
The  Father  of  Eternity.  Which  is  expressed  in  the  fourteenth 
Psalm  by  saying,  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  forever  and  CA'er.1 
Which  avoixIs  the  Apostle  Paul  says  were  uttered  by  God  to  his 
Son,  and  which  are  applied  by  him  explicitly  to  Jesus  Christ,  as 
a  part  of  his  crushing  argument  that  Ave  shall  perish  if  Ave  neglect 
the  great  salvation  which  is  offered  to  us  in  him.2  Nor  is  it  con- 
ceiA'able that  a  kingdom  which  is  administered  by  the  Author  of 
Eternity,  and  which  can  never  be  destroyed,  nor  changed,  but  is 
ruled  over  by  infinite  wisdom  and  almighty  power,  to  the  very 
end  of  consuming  all  other  kingdoms,  should  fail  to  be  the  King- 
dom of  the  God  of  HeaA-en.3 

10.  The  last  title  of  the  Avhole,  and  the  second  of  these  last 
two,  is  The  Prince  of  Peace.f  He  is  the  procurer  of  Peace  be- 
tAAreen  God  and  men  :  which  indeed  is  the  end  of  his  mission  to 
this  earth.  He  is  the  Author  of  Peace  in  every  human  soul  in 
which  Christ  is  formed  the  hope  of  glory.  Peace  on  earth,  is 
the  final  heritage  he  will  bestoAv  on  it,  when  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  shall  have  been  made  into  a  kingdom  for  the  Lord 
and  his  Christ.  To  the  wicked  there  can  be  no  peace.  The 
only  alternative  Avhich  can  be  offered  to  them,  or  which  can  be 
conceived  of  as  possible,  is  either  submission  to  the  Prince  of 
Peace,  and  restoration  through  him  to  God  :  or  everlasting  en- 
mity and  warfare  betAveen  them  and  God.  A  warfare,  every  act 
of  which  is  attended  by  increased  pollution  and  wretchedness, 
on  their  part  ;  and  Avhich  by  no  possibility  could  end  otherwise 
than  in  their  utter  perdition.  It  is  in  this  fearful  conflict,  and 
as  its  result,  that  the  \rengeance  of  God  is  poured  out  upon 
devils  and  wicked  men  ;  that  the  earth  is  ravaged  ;  and  that 
hell,  the  prison  house  of  despair,  becomes  the  abode  of  all  who 
are  finally  impenitent.     Nor  will  it  be  the  least  of  the  horrors 

*  "t?-*3^— Paler  ^Eternitatis  1  Heb.,  i.  8.  *  TTeb.,  ii.  3. 

3  Dan.,  ii.  44.  \  c'V'i-nb — Princeps  Pacis. 


184  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

of  those  who  dwell  therein,  that  their  enmity  to  God  is  as  im- 
potent, as  it  is  cruel  and  causeless,  and  that  he  whom  they  thus 
hated  and  rejected  was  able  and  willing  to  have  saved  them. 

11.  We  must  recollect  that  all  these  things  appertain  to  the 
kingly  office  of  Christ.  These  titles  belong  to  him  as  he  is  a 
King  :  and  all  these  effects  follow  from  the  exercise  of  his  royal 
functions  :  and  all  these  descriptions  apply  to  his  kingly  person. 
The  child  promised  who  was  the  Son  of  God,  and  to  whom  such 
glorious  appellations  are  given,  to  whom  such  majestic  acts  are 
ascribed,  by  whom  such  infinite  advancement  is  obtained,  is 
King  Immanuel.  They  crowned  him  with  thorns,  and  nailed 
him  to  the  cross,  and  called  him  in  derision  "  one  Jesus."  But 
that  glorious  brow  will  wear  to  eternity,  the  crown  of  the  uni- 
verse ;  and  those  pierced  hands  grasp  the  sceptre  of  a  dominion 
which  extends  over  every  created  thing  ;  and  at  the  slightest 
whisper  of  that  despised  name,  every  knee  in  heaven  and  earth 
and  hell  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  confess.  Nor  is  it  less 
carefully  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  as  the  head  of  the  Media- 
torial kingdom  that  all  these  titles  are  ascribed  to  our  Saviour, 
and  all  this  infinite  weight  of  glory  achieved  by  him.  This 
kingly  authority  extends  indeed  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Covenant  of  Grace,  under  which  he  is  appointed  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  men  :  but  it  is  as  Mediator  of  that  covenant  that 
ho  becomes  a  king  and  that  he  erects  his  throne  on  Zion.  Thus 
being  the  head  of  his  church,  the  headship  over  all  things  is 
added  to  him  :  and  the  King  of  saints  becomes  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  lords.  His  whole  dominion  and  authority,  his  whole 
counsel  and  might,  as  well  as  all  the  riches  of  his  wisdom,  and 
all  the  merit  of  his  sacrifice,  along  with  all  that  is  wonderful  in 
what  he  is  and  what  he  does,  and  all  that  is  immeasurable  in 
that  vastness  wherein  he  is  the  very  author  and  father  of  eter- 
nity :  all,  all  are  held  and  exercised  for  the  glory  and  blessed- 
ness of  that  kingdom  of  Grace,  which  he  has  founded  and  which 
he  will  save  :  which  he  is  now  gathering  and  perfecting,  and 
which  he  will  at  last  present  faultless  before  God. 

II.  This  general  statement  and  exposition  of  the  doctrine  of 
God's  word  concerning  the  kingly  office  of  Christ,  enables  us  to 
reduce  to  a  few  distinct  propositions  the  substance  of  what  the 
Scriptures  teach  us  concerning  that  aspect  of  the  Mediatorial 
office.     Thus : 


OHAP.  XIII.]  THE     ONLY     KING    IN     Z 1 0  N .  185 

1.  Christ  is  truly  and  really  a  King  :  as  much  so  as  he  is  a 
Prophet  or  a  Priest.  As  he  is  all  three,  and  as  he  discharges 
all  the  offices  of  them  all  both  in  his  estate  of  Humiliation  and 
Exaltation,  his  Mediatorial  work  is  complete,  and  his  Media- 
torial office  fully  accomplished.  Thereupon  he  is  entitled,  first 
on  his  own  account,  and  secondly  on  behalf  of  his  people,  to 
every  thing  that  was  promised  him  in  the  Covenant  of  Grace : 
and  he  must  receive  it  all.  For  he  is  a  king  not  only  in  that  he 
possesses  the  ordinary  kingdom  of  Providence  which  appertains 
to  him  as  the  creator  of  all  things  :  but  he  is  a  King  also  as  he 
possesses  the  kingdom  of  Grace,  the  Mediatorial  kingdom, 
which  has  been  given  to  him  by  the  Father,  on  account  of  his 
obedience  unto  death.  As  has  been  repeatedly  said,  it  belongs 
to  Christ's  Mediatorial  work  to  execute  all  his  offices  personally, 
and  all  of  them  both  in  Humiliation  and  Exaltation,  both  upon 
earth  and  in  heaven.  Hitherto  he  has  executed  his  prophetical 
and  his  priestly,  and  in  a  certain  sense,  his  kingly  office  person- 
ally, and  in  Humiliation  on  earth  :  and  while  he  executed  the 
two  first  of  these  offices  in  glory  before  his  incarnation,  he  has 
since  his  Ascension  in  our  nature,  executed  them  both  personally 
in  that  nature  in  Exaltation  in  heaven,  making  the  glory  of  both 
perfectly  manifest  to  the  universe.  There  seems  to  be  wanting 
to  complete  the  sublime  analogy  some  further  and  more  illus- 
trious personal  manifestation  on  earth  of  the  kingly  office  of 
Messiah  in  our  nature  :  a  manifestation  of  his  dominion  on  the 
throne  of  his  father  David,  of  his  dominion  over  that  kingdom 
purchased  by  his  blood.  And  the  declarations  of  the  word  of 
God,  that  this  is  to  occur,  are  clear  and  full.  But  in  what  sense, 
under  what  circumstances,  at  what  period,  the  church  of  God, 
as  I  have  several  times  intimated,  has  long  been  and  still  re- 
mains, much  divided  in  opinion.  Coming  face  to  face  with  the 
great  question  here,  it  is  enough  to  say,  in  this  brief  recapitula- 
tion, that  the  Scriptures  leave  us  no  place  for  doubt,  concerning 
the  fact  of  a  future  and  transcendantly  glorious  manifestation  on 
earth,  of  the  Messianic  kingdom  and  of  the  glorified  Saviour  as 
the  Euler  thereof. 

2.  This  true  kingdom  of  Christ,  which  is  entirely  distinct 
from  his  priesthood,  and  also  from  his  prophetic  office,  the  ex- 
tent and  nature  of  which  have  been  explained,  is  a  spiritual  and 
eternal  kingdom.     The  church  of  God,  which  is  strictly  the  per- 


186  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  ii. 

sonal  kingdom  of  Christ,  taken  in  one  sense,  is  visible  ;  in  an- 
other it  is  invisible  :  and  in  both  senses  it  is  universal  or  Catho- 
lic. The  former  consists  of  all  those  throughout  the  world,  that 
profess  the  true  religion,  together  with  their  children  i1  the  lat- 
ter of  all,  in  all  ages,  who  shall  be  gathered  into  one  under 
Christ  the  head,  and  is  the  Bride  of  the  Lamb.'  Taken  in  both 
of  these  senses,  the  true  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  is  not  of, 
nor  is  it  to  be  confounded  with,  the  kingdoms  or  governments  of 
this  world,  which  are  separate  ordinations  of  God  for  their  own 
appropriate  ends.3  But  all  its  power,  object,  and  ends  are  ex- 
clusively spiritual,  so  far  as  time  and  earth  are  concerned.  More- 
over it  is  eternal.  While  the  earth  lasts,  Christ  will  have  a 
people  and  a  kingdom  in  it,  which  is  the  salt  of  it,  and  for  the 
sake  of  which  alone  God  does  not,  as  yet,  destroy  it  :  and  when 
the  end  of  all  things  here  below  shall  fully  come,  the  kingdom  of 
the  Lord  Christ,  shall  thereby  only  be  made  more  glorious  and 
blessed  forever  more. 

3.  With  respect  to  the  infinite  dignity,  and  the  supreme  wis- 
dom and  power  of  Christ,  as  a  king,  little  perhaps  need  be  added 
here,  to  what  has  been  said  in  the  former  part  of  this  chapter. 
It  is  obvious,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  power  of  controlling  the 
will  of  man,  so  that  it  shall  certainly  and  yet  freely  choose  God 
as  its  portion,  and  this  by  means  of  an  effectual  spiritual  work- 
ing, whereby  the  conscience  is  sanctified,  and  the  heart  renewed, 
and  the  spirit  restored  to  the  lost  image  of  God,  utterly  tran- 
scends all  human  ability  :  and  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  if  these 
things  be  not  provided  for,  and  that  effectually  and  constantly, 
it  is  equally  manifest  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  must  cease 
from  amongst  men.  Which  is  all  one,  as  saying,  that  a  divine 
power  and  wisdom  must  be  continually  present  and  operative, 
and  yet  perpetually  regardful  of  the  wonderful  nature  of  man, 
in  order  to  perpetuate  the  kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth.  In  their 
nature  these  are  regal,  and  not  prophetical  nor  yet  sacerdotal 
powers.  Appertaining  to  Christ  as  a  king,  they  give  such  un- 
speakable majesty  to  his  person  and  office,  that  even  in  their 
exercise  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  who  was  purchased  by  his  blood, 
they  have  such  relevancy  to  Christ,  that  the  second  one  of  the 
incontrovertible  points  of  the  whole  mystery  of  Godliness,    is 

«  1  Cor.,  vil  14.  2  Eph.,  i.  10,  22,  23. 

8  Luke,  xvii.  20;  John,  xviii.  36. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  THE    ONLY    KING    IN    ZION.  187 

declared  to  be,  that  he  who  is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  is 
God  justified  in  the  Spirit.1 

4.  The  administration  of  the  kingly  office  of  Christ,  im- 
poses the  necessity  of  exercising  two  distinct  functions  with 
reference  to  his  kingdom  :  namely  the  Government  of  it,  and  the 
Protection  of  it :  embracing  whatever  is  involved  in  its  enlarge- 
ment, as  well  as  in  its  defence.  I  will  consider  these  in  their 
order  :  and  first,  of  the  Government  of  the  kingdom,  the  matters 
which  follow  are  to  be  noted. 

(a)  Every  thing  in  the  nature  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
makes  it  not  less  peculiar  as  a  kingdom,  and  his  subjects  pecu- 
liar as  a  people,  than  he  is  peculiar  as  a  king.  It  belonged  to 
him  originally  by  creation  :  but  long  ago  it  revolted  from  him. 
It  belongs  to  him  also  by  inheritance,  seeing  he  is  the  only  be- 
gotten of  the  Father,  to  whom,  originally  as  God,  it  belonged, 
and  who  gave  it  to  him.  It  belongs  to  him  also  by  covenant, 
and  purchase  ;  he  having  undertaken  to  reduce  it  back  into 
obedience  to  God,  by  reconciling  it  to  him  in  his  work  of  Media- 
tion, and  in  effecting  this,  having  redeemed  the  kingdom  and 
every  member  of  it,  with  his  own  most  precious  blood.  It  be- 
longs to  him  by  conquest,  too  ;  for  he  has  reconquered  it  from 
the  prince  of  this  world,  the  spirit  that  worketh  in  the  children 
of  disobedience,  the  devil  who  led  it  captive  at  his  will :  and 
every  particular  member  of  the  kingdom  is  a  special  monument 
of  this  reconquering  love  of  Christ,  through  which  every  one  of 
them  has  been  translated  from  darkness  into  light,  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God. 

(b)  Such  a  kingdom  as  this,  must  needs  be  governed  in  a 
manner,  every  way  remarkable,  by  a  king,  who  is  himself,  both 
as  to  his  person  and  his  work,  the  wonder  of  the  universe.  For 
as  has  just  been  shown,  every  subject  of  the  kingdom  was  once 
a  rebel  and  a  criminal  not  only  ;  but  a  faithful  subject  of  an- 
other kingdom,  whose  ruler  is  the  implacable  enemy  of  Christ. 
And  what  is,  if  possible,  still  more  deplorable,  every  one  of  them 
would  immediately  revolt  from  Christ,  and  return  to  their  alle- 
giance to  Satan,  if  Christ  should  withdraw  his  immediate  and 
absolute  dominion  over  them,  and  leave  them  to  choose  and  act 
for  themselves.  It  is  a  kingdom,  therefore  which  is  wholly  in- 
competent to  govern  and  direct  itself;  much  less  to  preserve  and 

1  1  Tim.,  iii.  16. 


188  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

extend  itself.  There  is  not  even  so  much  as  one  single  member 
of  it  who  is  worthy  to  be  trusted,  nay,  I  will  add,  who  is  willing 
to  be  trusted  with  any  other  power,  or  authority  or  dominion,  or 
even  any  function  or  regimen  in  it,  whether  over  himself,  01 
over  any  other,  except  only  such  and  so  far  as  continually  im- 
plies the  presence  and  the  help  of  Christ  himself. 

(c)  There  is  no  help  therefore  but  that  the  kingdom  must 
perish  ;  or  Christ  must  be  to  it  both  Lawgiver,  and  Judge,  and 
Euler.  Nor  does  this  even,  express  the  extent  of  the  need  of 
him,  and  of  what  he  must  do,  in  the  government  of  his  kingdom. 
For  after  his  laws  are  made,  we  should  comprehend  them  most 
inadequately,  and  obey  them  most  unwillingly  ;  and  after  his 
judgments  and  decrees  are  rendered,  we  should  receive  them 
neither  in  the  power  nor  the  love  of  them  ;  and  every  act  of  ex- 
ecutive authority  over  us,  on  his  part,  would  be  accepted  with 
indifference  or  aversion.  Left  to  ourselves,  even  under  a  perfect 
lawgiver,  and  judge,  and  ruler,  we  should  see  no  beauty  in  him 
that  we  should  desire  him,  and  would  do  continually  what  we 
have  so  often  done  already,  namely  we  should  despise  and  reject 
him.1  Besides  all  the  external  government  of  his  kingdom,  which 
rests  upon  Christ,  in  the  way  of  giving  his  most  holy  Law,  and 
his  most  blessed  Gospel  ;  and  in  the  way  of  administering  both 
through  all  the  ordinances  and  office  bearers,  instituted  by  him  ; 
and  in  the  way  of  controlling,  directing  and  determining  all 
things  to  the  outward  establishment  and  guidance  of  his  king- 
dom ;a  there  remains  that  further  work,  whereby  a  true,  willing, 
and  inward  obedience  to  his  will,  and  a  righteous  conformity  to 
his  law,  and  a  joyful  submission  to  his  authority  are  begotten 
and  wrought  in  the  souls  of  all  the  subjects  of  his  kingdom.3 
For  unless  all  this  is  effected,  it  is  impossible  for  such  a  kingdom 
as  that  of  Christ,  composed  of  such  subjects  as  fallen  men,  to  be 
established  or  to  endure.  And  there  is  no  power  revealed  to  us, 
or  even  conceivable  by  us,  except  that  which  belongs  to  Christ, 
as  the  Mediator,  and  which  is  exerted  by  him,  and  through  his 
Spirit,  and  word,  and  ordinances,  whereby  such  effects  can  be 
produced. 

(d)  To  the  kingly  government  of  his  church  by  Christ,  it 
also  appertains  to  bestow  upon  the  subjects  of  his  kingdom, 

1  Isa.,  liii.  2,  3.  s  Isa.,  xi.  2,  3;  Psalms  xlr.  and  ex. 

3  Psalm  xxiii.  3,  cxliii.  10  •   Cant.,  i.  4. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  THE     ONLY     KING    IN     Z 1 0  N .  189 

whatever  blessings,  and  honors,  and  rewards  ho  has  been  gra- 
ciously  pleased  to  attach  to  their  new  obedience  and  their  faith- 
ful endeavors  for  his  glory.  This  is  partly,  during  this  life  ; 
but  chiefly  in  the  Great  Day  and  throughout  eternity.  All  these 
benefits  and  distinctions  whether  in  this  life,  or  in  that  which  is 
to  come,  are  bestowed  upon  the  children  of  the  kingdom,  not  on 
account  of  any  merit  in  them,  or  in  any  of  their  works  ;  for  it 
has  been  shown  all  along,  that  personally,  there  is  nothing  meri- 
torious either  in  them  or  their  works,  when  judged  by  the  per- 
fect law  of  God.  Godliness  indeed  hath  the  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come.1  But  it  is  only  through 
the  merits  of  Christ,  and  by  faith  in  him.  Nay  even  then  it  is 
of  his  royal  bounty.  For  the  wages  of  sin  is  death  :  and  eternal 
life  is  simply  the  gift  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.2 
But  this  embraces  all  things,  and  both  worlds.  For  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost  :3  and  to  believers  all  things  appertain,  whether  Paul,  or 
Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things 
present,  or  things  to  come  ;  all  are  theirs  ;  and  they  are  Christ's  ; 
and  Christ  is  God's.4  Therefore  when  we  have  by  God's  grace 
fought  a  good  fight,  and  finished  our  course,  and  kept  the  faith  ; 
we  may  confidently  and  joyfully  trust  that  there  is  laid  up  for 
us  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge 
shall  give  us  at  that  day  :  and  not  to  us  only  but  to  all  them 
also  that  love  his  appearing.5  Blessed  be  God,  this  is  the  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord  ;  that  it  is  not  a  kingdom  for  the  administration  and  exe- 
cution of  punitive  or  vindictive  justice  ;  but  for  the  exhibition 
of  grace  and  mercy.  In  it  penitent  rebels  are  not  only  pardoned, 
but  through  the  infinite  goodness  and  by  the  benign  power  of 
God,  they  are  turned  and  moved,  are  inclined  and  enabled  to  a 
sweet  submission,  and  a  loving  obedience  to  him  who  both  loved 
them  and  washed  them  from  their  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and 
hath  made  them  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  his  Father  ; 
to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  forever  and  ever.0 

5.  And  now  secondly  of  the  Protection  and  therein  of  the 
defence  and  enlargement  of  Christ's  kingdom,  we  are  to  note  the 
things  which  follow. 

1  1  Tim.,  iv.  8.  2  Rom.,  vi.  23.  3  Rom.,  xiv.  17. 

4  1  Cor.,  Hi.  21-23.  s  2  Tim,  iv.  7,  8.  6  Rev.,  i.  5,  6. 


190  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

(a)  The  whole  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  every  true  member 
of  it,  are  special  objects  of  the  care  and  love  of  their  king.  Al- 
though particular  portions  of  the  visible  church  universal,  may 
err  and  fall  away  by  reason  of  false  brethren  unawares  crept  in  ; 
or  may  be  uprooted  by  persecution  and  oppression,  and  so  by 
both  means  may  fail,  as  by  both  means  portions  thereof  have 
failed  :  yet  that  the  whole  kingdom  should  fail,  and  that  the 
dominion  of  Christ  amongst  men,  through  his  church  should  be 
put  down,  and  that  the  church  itself,  as  a  visible  institute  of 
God,  should  wholly  disappear  from  amongst  men,  is  utterly  im- 
possible. The  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  is  laid  as  the 
chief  corner  stone  and  foundation  of  this  building  of  God  ;  and 
we  have  his  plighted  word,  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  it.1  And  to  this  purport  are  innumerable  testimo- 
nies of  the  word  of  God  ;  and  the  whole  of  his  providence  during 
the  entire  existence  of  man  on  this  earth,  is  a  constant  and  living 
illustration  of  the  import  of  these  testimonies  :  and  the  whole 
power,  and  wisdom,  and  glory,  of  Christ,  are  staked  upon  their 
truth.  Thanks  be  to  God,  we  have  seen  the  worst  of  this  :  and 
the  malice  of  hell  and  of  wicked  men  is  vain.  It  will  occur  no 
more,  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  will  be  confined  to  a  few  wan- 
derers who  have  no  certain  dwelling  place.  Much  less  will  it 
ever  again  be  limited  to  a  single  household.  And  least  of  all 
will  its  glorious  Lord  ever  again  be  crucified,  dead,  and  buried  ! 

(b)  What  is  true  of  the  whole  kingdom,  taken  in  its  abso- 
luteness, is  true  also  of  each  individual  member  of  it.  Not  that 
some  of  them  may  utterly  perish,  although  the  whole  of  them 
cannot :  for  that  all  of  them  cannot  perish  is  before  proved,  in 
proving  that  the  kingdom  itself  cannot  fail  :  so  that  the  analogy 
cannot  stop  even  logically,  in  this  form.  But  as  the  kingdom 
itself  cannot  fail,  by  reason  of  its  relations  to  Christ,  and  Christ's 
promises  to  it,  so  for  the  same  reasons  not  a  single  child  of  God 
can  perish  ;  however  much,  each  one  of  them,  by  reason  of  the 
remains  of  original  sin,  may  for  a  time,  fall  away  from  the  life 
of  God  in  their  souls.  There  are  three  modes,  by  which  it  is 
conceivable,  that  particular  believers  might  utterly  fall  and 
perish  ;  and  but  three.  1.  They  might  voluntarily  relapse  into 
sin,  and  being  forsaken  of  God,  perish.  2.  God  might  withdraw 
himself  from  them,  without  any  special  blame  on  their  part,  and 

1  Mat.,  xvi.  13-20. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  THE    ONLY    KING    IN    ZION.  191 

so  leave  them  to  be  destroyed.  3.  Their  enemies  and  God's, 
might  be  able  to  snatch  them  out  of  the  hand  of  God,  and  drag 
them  to  perdition.  In  either  of  these  three  ways,  we  can  easily 
understand  that  the  children  of  God  might  be  utterly  and  finally 
separated  from  him  :  but  we  cannot  conceive  of  any  other  mode 
of  arriving  at  that  fearful  result,  which,  when  duly  considered, 
does  not  resolve  itself  into  one  or  another  of  these  three  modes. 
But  each  of  these  three  possible  modes,  is  distinctly  considered 
in  the  Scriptures,  each  one  of  them  is  explicitly  provided  against, 
and  God  has  emphatically  declared  that  his  children  shall  not 
perish  by  either  of  the  three.  As  to  the  first  mode,  it  is  written, 
My  grace  is  sufficient  for  you  :'  and  again,  I  will  never  leave 
thee  nor  forsake  thee  :9  and  again,  I  have  never  seen  the  right 
eous  forsaken.8  As  to  the  second  mode,  it  is  written,  All  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  to  them  who  are 
the  called  according  to  his  purpose  : '  and  again,  that  nothing  shall 
be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord.5  As  to  the  third  mode,  it  is  written,  My  sheep 
hear  my  voice,  and  I  know  them,  and  they  follow  me  ;  and  I 
give  unto  them  eternal  life  ;  and  they  shall  never  perish,  neither 
shall  any  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand.  My  Father  which  gave 
them  me  is  greater  than  all  :  and  none  is  able  to  pluck  them  out 
of  my  Father's  hand.6  And  of  like  import  are  innumerable  state- 
ments of  the  word  of  life.  God  will,  therefore,  according  to  the 
riches  of  his  grace,  and  the  faithfulness  of  his  promises,  bring  all 
those  whom  he  hath  begotten  again  to  a  lively  hope  by  the  res- 
urrection of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  to  an  inheritance  in- 
corruptible, undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away  reserved  in 
heaven  for  them.  And  thereunto  they  shall  be  kept  by  the 
power  of  God,  through  faith  unto  salvation  :  and  rejoicing  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,  shall  receive  the  end  of  their 
faith  even  the  salvation  of  their  souls.7 

(c)  The  efficient  cause  of  this  complete  and  everlasting  pro- 
tection of  the  kingdom  of  Messiah,  and  of  every  true  member 
of  it  ;  the  effectual  working  whereby  the  glorious  enlargement 
and  final  victory  of  the  church  will  be  accomplished,  and  the 
growth  in  grace,  and  final  perfection,  and  salvation  of  every  true 
believer  infallibly  secured  :  is  of  that  nature,  that  all  defeat, 

1  2  Cor.,  xii.  9.         2  Feb.,  xiii.  5.  3  Psalm  xxxvii,  25.  4  Rom.,  viii.  28. 

s  Rom.,  viii.  31-39.  6  John,  x.  27-29;  Epb.,  i.  4-12.  »    1  Peter,  i.  1-9- 


192  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

mischance,  failure,  or  mistake  is  utterly  impossible.  For  tlie 
sacerdotal  intercession  of  Christ,  is  effectual  for  salvation,  even 
to  the  uttermost  ;  and  he  ever  liveth  to  make  that  intercession  i1 
an  intercession  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  unites  in  a  manner  so 
wondrous,  that  the  Scriptures  say  it  is  with  groanings  which  can- 
not be  uttered  !2  Add  now,  the  divine  kingly  power  of  Christ, 
and  hear  him  saying  of  his  followers,  I  give  unto  them  eternal 
life  :  they  shall  never  perish  :3  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last 
day :  he  that  believeth  on  me  hath  everlasting  life  :'  upon  this 
rock  will  I  build  my  church  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  it.5  And  now  to  this  all  prevalent  sacerdotal  inter- 
cession, and  to  this  irresistible  power  of  the  divine  king,  add  the 
effectual  working  of  the  divine  Spirit,  sent  by  Christ,  the  king 
in  Zion  ;  even  that  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whereby  we  are  sealed 
unto  the  day  of  redemption.6  And  then  consider  if  the  efficient 
cause  of  all  that  Christ  has  undertaken  to  do,  is  not  complete  : 
if  the  effectual  working  whereby  he  proposes  to  accomplish  all 
that  he  ever  promised  to  do,  is  not  irresistible  ? 

(d)  The  prophet  Daniel,  expounding  in  a  few  sublime  words, 
the  career  and  the  end  of  all  the  universal  world-kingdoms  ;  and 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  Messianic  kingdom  over  all  king- 
doms ;  told  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  very  head  of  the  whole  immense 
series  of  godless  empires,  that  the  fate  of  all  of  them  was,  that 
they  should  be  utterly  destroyed  by  the  kingdom  of  God.  Then, 
said  Daniel,  was  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  and  the 
gold,  broken  to  pieces  together,  and  became  like  the  chaff  of  the 
summer  threshing-floors  ;  and  the  wind  carried  them  away,  that 
no  place  was  found  for  them  :  and  the  stone  that  smote  the 
image  became  a  great  mountain  and  filled  the  whole  earth.7 
And  the  great  wonder  which  the  Apostle  John  saw  in  heaven, 
even  the  wonder  of  a  woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  and  with  the 
moon  under  her  feet,  and  upon  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars, 
travailing  in  pain  to  be  delivered  :  and  the  wonder  of  a  great  red 
dragon  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and  seven  crowns  upon 
his  heads,  and  whose  tail  drew  the  third  part  of  the  stars  of 
heaven,  and  did  cast  them  to  the  earth,  who  stood  before  the 
woman  ready  to  devour  her  child  as  soon  as  it  was  born  :  found 
its  complete  solution  in  the  birth  of  a  man-child,  who  was  to  rule 

2  Heb.,  vii.  25;  Rom.,  viii.  34.  *  Rom.,  viii.  26.  3  John,  x.  23. 

*  John,  vi.  44-^17.        5  Mat.,  xvi.  18.        s  Eph.,  iv.  30.  7  Dan.,  ii.  35. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  THE     ONLY     KINO     IN    ZION.  193 

all  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  who  was  caught  up  unto  God 
and  to  his  throne.1  And  this  testimony  to  the  final  and  utter 
destruction  of  all  the  world-powers,  and  the  complete  and  uni- 
versal triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  God,  borne  by  the 
great  Apocalyptic  Prophet  of  the  Ancient  Dispensation,  and  by 
the  great  Apocalyptic  Apostle  of  the  New  Dispensation  ;  is  only 
a  clear  utterance  of  what  is  asserted  and  implied  through  the 
whole  word  of  God.  It  only  makes  emphatic  what  is  involved 
in  the  very  structure  and  end  of  the  whole  plan  of  salvation,  as 
revealed  in  the  Scriptures  :  what  appertains  to  the  very  person 
and  office,  and  work,  and  kingdom,  and  power,  and  glory,  of  him 
in  whom  all  fulness  dwells  ;  by  whom  God  reconciles  all  things 
unto  himself ;  in  whom  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth  are  to  be 
gathered  together  in  one  throughout  the  whole  dispensation  of 
the  fulness  of  times  ;  and  at  whose  name,  which  is  above  every 
name,  every  knee  shall  bow  in  heaven,  in  earth,  and  in  hell  I" 
The  very  conception  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  the  very  con- 
ception of  Christ  as  the  Mediator  of  that  covenant,  involves  the 
conception  of  a  kingdom  without  limit  and  without  end,  which 
Christ  as  a  Priest  will  redeem,  which  Christ  as  a  Prophet  will 
instruct,  and  over  which  Christ  as  a  King  will  rule.  Neither 
one  of  these  sublime  conceptions  is  stationary  in  any  part  of  the 
Scriptures,  nor  is  either  one  of  them  separately  developed  there- 
in. By  a  steadfast  march,  at  once  of  God's  adorable  providence, 
and  God's  infallible  revelation,  they  become  more  and  more  dis- 
tinct, and  more  and  more  dependent  on  each  other,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of  the  word  of  God,  and  throughout  all  the 
actual  dispensations  recorded  therein.  And  when  the  word  of 
life  closes,  the  prophetic  history  of  all  ages  and  all  dispensations 
which  are  to  follow,  is  the  history  of  the  progress  of  these  con- 
ceptions, still  further  realized,  to  the  glory  of  God  in  the  perfect 
development  and  completion  of  them,  through  all  time  and  then 
through  eternity.  The  further  we  advance  side  by  side  with  the 
Messianic  kingdom  along  the  course  of  ages  ;  and  the  greater 
the  compass  over  which  God's  providence  illustrates  every  part 
of  God's  revelation,  especially  the  prophetic  portion  of  it  ;  and 
the  wider  the  range  of  our  vision  of  all  divine  things  in  all  ages 
which  have  preceded  our  age  :  the  more  confidently  ought  we  to 
be  able  to  rely  on  our  sober  and  deliberate  conclusions,  concerning 

1  Rev.,  xii.  1-5.  3  Col.,  i.  19,  20;  Epb.,  i.  10;  Phil.,  ii.  9,  10. 

13 


194  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

all  these  great  mysteries  of  God.  Nevertheless,  their  very  vast- 
ness,  together  with  the  certainty  that  a  spiritual  illumination  is 
indispensable  to  their  adequate  comprehension,  and  that  even 
with  this,  in  the  degree  commonly  vouchsafed  to  the  people  of 
God,  innumerable  errors  have  been  committed,  by  such  as  have 
attempted  to  develop  what  is  future,  with  the  same  confidence 
we  may  feel  in  expounding  what  is  past  :  ought  to  make  us  feel 
habitually  that  our  posture  as  interpreters  is  very  different  with 
reference  to  all  the  past,  from  what  it  is  with  reference  to  any 
portion  of  the  future  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord.  God  gives 
us  to  know  the  former,  in  all  completeness  :  he  gives  us  to  know 
the  latter  only  in  sublime  outlines.  The  one  is  for  our  present 
salvation :  the  other  is  for  our  future  glory  and  blessedness. 

6.  It  only  remains  to  observe  that  the  kingly  office  of  Christ, 
like  his  prophetic,  and  his  priestly  offices,  is  absolute  and  ex- 
clusive, as  well  as  perpetual.  Christ  is  the  only  Teacher  whose 
authority  and  sufficiency  are  divine  and  infallible  ;  and  all  other 
teachers  whether  of  duty  or  of  truth,  are  trustworthy  only  so  far 
as  they  accord  with  him  ;  and  are  competent  only  so  far  as  they 
are  taught  by  him.  Christ  is  the  only  Priest,  whose  sacrifice,  or 
oblation,  or  intercession,  or  benediction,  are  of  themselves  ac- 
ceptable to  God  or  prevalent  with  him  ;  and  all  other  priests  who 
offer  sacrifice,  or  oblation,  who  make  intercession,  or  utter  bene- 
diction, irrespective  of  him,  do  so  in  mere  blindness,  or  insult 
the  majesty  of  God  in  all  their  acts.  In  the  same  manner,  Christ 
is  the  only  King  in  Zion  ;  and  as  such  he  is  the  supreme  ruler  of 
the  universe.  Passing  by  this  latter  aspect  of  his  exalted  domin- 
ion, there  are  multitudes  of  questions  of  the  highest  importance, 
both  doctrinal  and  practical,  which  are  determined  by  the  per- 
petual headship  of  Christ  over  the  church,  in  every  period  of  it ; 
and  multitudes  relating  to  the  faith,  to  the  life,  and  to  the  form 
of  his  church,  which  are  determined  by  the  exclusiveness  of  that 
universal  headship.  The  freedom  of  the  church  from  all  other 
dominion,  depends  absolutely  upon  the  completeness  of  Christ's 
dominion  over  her.  The  purity,  the  vitality,  the  comfort,  the 
peace,  the  advancement,  nay  the  very  perpetuity  and  glory  of 
the  church,  all  depend  upon  the  exclusiveness  with  which  Christ 
reigns  over  her,  and  his  divine  Spirit  lives  within  her.  And  that 
which  occurs  to  nothing  else  is  that  which  is  her  most  peculiar 
characteristic  :  namely,  the  perpetual  revival  in  her  bosom  of  hex 


CHAP.  XIII.]  TIIE    ONLY    KING    IN    ZION.  195 

simple,  original  life  :  the  perpetual  recurrence  of  the  same  life 
under  innumerable  forms  and  amidst  all  the  vicissitudes  of  an 
endless  progress.  She  has  no  rule  of  duty  but  the  divine  Law, 
no  ground  of  hope  but  in  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom,  no  light 
but  the  light  of  life,  no  power  but  through  the  divine  Spirit,  no 
authority  except  to  save  sinners,  no  end  but  to  glorify  God. 
All  this,  she  may  possess  in  every  human  condition,  and  pos- 
sessing it  she  abides,  in  apparent  helplessness  an  irresistible 
power  upon  earth,  and  will  shine  with  increasing  glory  through- 
out eternity. 


THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD, 

OBJECTIVELY    CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  THIRD  BOOK. 

Tiiree  great  ideas  are  involved  in  the  conception  of  salvation :  the  idea  of 
God;  the  idea  of  man;  and  the  idea  of  the  Mediator  between  God  and  man. 
Three  terms,  "with  a  signal  limitation  to  each,  contain  the  problem  as  stated  by 
the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  namely ;  God,  who  is  to  be  worshipped  in  the 
Spirit ;  Christ  Jesus  in  whom  we  rejoice  ;  and  the  Flesh  in  which  no  confidence 
is  to  be  placed.  It  is  this  idea  of  God  involved  in  salvation — this  chief  term  in 
the  great  problem,  to  which  this  Third  Book  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  is  par- 
ticularly devoted.  The  two  other  ideas — the  two  other  terms — have  been  sep- 
arately developed  in  the  two  preceding  books.  Salvation  for  fallen  man  by 
Jesus  Christ,  through  divine  grace :  thus  far  we  have  come.  And  now,  with 
the  God-man  advanced  to  the  throne  of  the  universe,  our  Infinite  Teacher — we 
advance  our  inquiries  into  the  very  Being  and  Perfections  of  the  God  of  all 
grace.  The  Fourteenth  Chapter,  which  i3  the  First  of  this  Third  Book,  is  de- 
voted to  the  obtaining  of  a  complete  idea  of  God,  by  means  of  the  first,  the 
simplest,  and  the  most  constant  form  of  revelation  of  himself :  to  wit,  the  Names 
by  which  he  made  himself,  his  Nature,  and  his  Perfections  known  from  the  be- 
ginning ;  and  which  disclose  the  permanent  and  systematic  knowledge  thereof. 
The  Fifteenth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Second  of  this  Book,  aims  to  demonstrate 
the  mode  of  God's  existence,  as  being  that  of  an  Infinite  Spirit,  in  the  absolute 
unity  of  whose  essence  three  divine  Persons  eternally  subsist :  the  nature  and 
method  of  such  an  existence  is  carefully  discussed,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  Trin- 
ity is  deduced,  explained,  and  established:  and  therein  it  is  shown  that  upon 
any  other  conception  than  this  of  the  Being  of  God,  the  Scriptures  are  incom- 
prehensible, and  the  salvation  of  man  impossible :  and  that  this  conception  of 
God  is  not  only  as  distinct  and  comprehensible  as  any  other  conception  of  him ; 
but  that,  as  the  matter  stands,  it  is  infallibly  true  and  certain.  In  the  Sixteenth 
Chapter  wliich  is  the  Third  of  this  Book,  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
Third  Person  of  the  adorable  Trinity,  is  treated  at  large:  and  this  is  done 
with  special  relation  to  the  nature,  office,  and  work  of  the  Spirit,  in  his  connec- 
tion with  the  person,  office  and  work  of  Christ ;  and  in  his  connection  with 


198  ARGUMENT    OF    THE    THIRD    BOOK. 

the  salvation  of  lost  men  :  wherein  the  supreme  Godhead,  and  the  divine  Per- 
sonality of  the  Spirit  are  demonstated,  and  his  constant  relation  to  all  saving 
knowledge  of  God,  and  the  particular  nature  of  the  sin  against  him,  are  ex- 
plained. The  Seventeenth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Fourth  of  this  Book,  considers 
the  Godhead  in  its  peculiar  unity,  and  discusses  and  establishes  a  classification 
of  the  divine  Perfections  whereby  all  the  attributes  of  God  cognizable  by  man 
may  be  contemplated  distinctly  under  a  few  classes  founded  on  distinctions  in- 
herent in  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  on  laws  fundamental  in  the  nature  of  man ; 
and  thus  become  objects  of  exact  knowledge.  The  Eighteenth  Chapter,  which 
is  the  Fifth  of  this  Book,  discusses  the  first  class  of  the  divine  Perfections,  called 
God's  Primary  Attributes :  such  namely,  as  arise  from  the  simplest  idea  we 
can  form  of  him  as  an  Infinite,  Eternal,  Unchangeable,  Self-Existent  Being. 
The  Nineteenth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Sixth  of  this  Book,  discusses  the  second 
class  of  the  divine  Perfections,  called  God's  Essential  Attributes  :  such  namely, 
as  arise  out  of  his  essence,  and  are  inseparable  from  our  conception  of  him  as 
an  Infinite,  Personal  Spirit ;  to  wit,  Infinite  Understanding,  Will,  and  Power. 
The  Twentieth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Seventh  of  this  Book,  discusses  the  third 
class  of  the  divine  Perfections,  called  God's  Natural  Attributes :  such  namely, 
as  have  direct  relevancy  to  the  ineffaceable  distinction  between  the  True  and 
the  False,  and  therefore  to  the  Rational  nature  both  of  God  and  man.  The 
Twenty-First  Chapter,  which  is  the  Eighth  of  this  Book,  discusses  the  fourth 
class  of  the  divine  Perfections,  called  God's  Moral  Attributes :  such  namely,  as 
have  direct  relevancy  to  the  further  ,and  ineffaceable  distinction  between  Good 
and  Evil,  and  therefore  to  the  Moral  nature  both  of  God  and  man.  The 
Twenty-Second  Chapter,  which  is  the  Ninth  and  last  of  this  Book,  discusses  the 
fifth  and  last  class  of  the  divine  Perfections,  called  God's  Consummate  Attri- 
butes :  such  namely,  as  transcend  the  conception  upon  which  each  previous 
class  rests,  and  embrace  the  Perfection  of  many  Infinite  Perfections :  as  the 
Life,  the  Oneness,  the  All-Sufficiency,  the  Omnipresence,  the  Blessedness  of  God. 
This  is  the  living  and  true  God  to  whom  sinners  have  access  through  the  divine 
Redeemer :  the  Jehovah  whom  we  are  to  worship  in  Spirit,  and  whom  to 
know  aright  is  life  eternal.  Besides  the  immense  questions  incidentally  exam- 
ined in  this  Book,  the  fundamental  truths  established  may  be  summarily  stated, 
thus :  The  knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation  was  always  revealed  to  man  :  the 
revealed  mode  of  the  divine  Existence,  namely,  one  Infinite  Essence  in  whic^h 
three  divine  Persons  eternally  subsist  is  the  only  conceivable  mode  consistent 
with  the  salvation  of  sinners :  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Third  Person  of  the  ador- 
able Trinity  is  very  God,  and  so  the  Renewer  and  Sanctifier  of  the  human  soul : 
the  Godhead,  contemplated  in  the  attributes  of  its  Infinite  Essence,  is  an  object 
of  certain  knowledge — and  those  divine  Perfections  are  susceptible  of  rational 
classification :  these  Perfections,  Attributes  of  the  Infinite  Essence  of  God,  dis- 
close him  to  us  in  liis  eternal  self-existence — a  Personal  Spirit  fining  immensity, 
distinct  from  the  universe,  and  its  Creator  and  Ruler  who  possesses  those  Per- 
fections in  immeasurable  fulness,  both  as  to  the  boundless  number  of  them,  and 
the  absolute  completeness  of  each  one  of  them ;  and  who,  by  means  of  the 
knowledge  of  himself,  makes  lost  men  partakers  of  his  own  Blessedness. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  NAMES  OF  GOD;  REVEALED  BY  HIMSELF  AS  THE  BASIS 
OF  OUR  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  GODHEAD. 

I.  1.  Origin  of  personal  appellations. — 2.  Peculiar  method  of  their  application  to  God. 
■ — :..  This  difference  inherent  and  fundamental. — II.  God  revealed  in  his  names.— 
1.  Jehovah.  Necessary,  and  yet  voluntary  eternal  Self-Existence — 2.  Proper 
name  of  God. — 3.  Superstitious  disuse  of  it  by  the  Jews. — 4.  Spread  of  this  fanat- 
icism to  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches.  Result  thereof  in  the  Latin  church. — 
5.  Result  in  the  Greek  church.  Sum  of  the  three  results. — 6.  The  name  Jehovah 
expressly  includes  the  Son,  and  the  Spirit,  as  well  as  tho  Father,  in  the  Essence 
of  the  Godhead. — 7.  Well  known  to  the  Patriarchs. — III.  I  Air  and  Jam — 
names  of  the  divine  Essence. — 1.  /  Am  explained.  Applied  by  Christ  to  him- 
self— 2.  Jah,  the  name  of  the  divine  Essence  in  the  simplest  conception  of  God, 
explained  with  the  two  preceding. — 3.  Its  use  in  the  Scriptures. — IV.  1.  Nature 
and  sum  of  the  foregoing  names.  Additional  names  of  God. — 2.  El,  Almighti- 
ness  of  God. — 3.  The  Lord  of  Hosts.  Force  of  this  name. — 4.  Infinite  domin- 
ion of  God. — V.  1.  Most  Higii.  Infinite  Exaltation  of  God. — 2.  Adoxai.  Its 
peculiar  form  and  force.  Special  application  to  Christ. — 3.  Siiaddai.  The  All- 
Sufficiency  of  God.  Habitual  appropriation  by  Christ. — t.  Eloiiiji.  Great  pe- 
culiarities of  this  name.  The  first  and  oftenest  used  of  all.  Exposition  of  its 
force  and  use. — 5.  These  names  of  God  are  a  real  and  systematic,  as  they  are  the 
original  revelation  of  the  Godhead. — VI.  1.  Distinction  between  names  and 
descriptive  phrases. — 2.  Special  necessity  of  the  present  enquiry. — 3.  Its  funda- 
mental relation  to  the  true  knowledge  of  God. 

I. — 1.  "When  there  was  but  a  single  human  being  in  the 
world,  there  was  no  need  that  he  should  have  a  personal  appella- 
tion, such  as  wre  call  a  proper  name  ;  since  the  name  distinctive 
of  the  race  which  was  to  spring  from  him,  would  completely  and 
forever  distinguish  him.  Therefore  God  called  him,  simply, 
man.*  When  God  formed  a  help-mate  to  the  man,  he  distin- 
guished her,  in  the  same  manner,  and  called  her  woman,f  the 
general  appellation  of  all  her  kind,  that  should  afterwards  ex- 
ist. It  was  only  after  the  fall  and  curse,  that  Adam,  to  designate 
his  wife  as  the  mother  of  all  living,  gave  her  the  personal  appel- 

*  D^K — Jiorno.  f  n*N— -fccmina— uxor,  from  ts^N — vir,  mariius. 


200  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

lation  of  Eve,*  which  distinguished  her  from  all  other  women, 
as  the  universal  mother  of  mankind.1  And  as  every  human  being 
has  heen  added  to  the  race,  and  has  needed  to  he  distinguished 
from  all  other  human  beings,  he  has  received  some  personal  des- 
ignation, which  we  call  his  name.  It  is  a  very  remarkable  thing 
to  observe,  in  what  various  ways  the  different  races  of  men'  have 
managed  a  matter  so  simple  as  this,  at  first  sight,  might  ap- 
pear. Few  treatises  would  be  more  curious,  and  in  some  as- 
pects instructive,  than  one  carefully  and  learnedly  prepared  on 
this  subject. 

2.  Following  the  analogy  of  the  case  already  stated  as  to 
man,  it  would  seem  altogether  probable,  if  not  indeed  in  some 
sort  necessary,  that  there  should  be  but  one  name  of  God,  in  any 
one  language,  supposing  the  fundamental  truth  of  the  absolute 
unity  of  the  Godhead,  to  be  known  to  those  who  use  that  tongue. 
And  this  notion  would  seem  to  apply  with  its  greatest  force,  to 
those  languages  in  which  it  pleased  God  to  reveal  the  knowledge 
of  himself  to  mankind  :  and  if  there  were  any  difference,  then 
with  greater  force  to  the  language  first  and  longest  used  by  God 
for  that  purpose.  The  fact  however,  is  very  far  otherwise  :  and 
it  ought  to  teach  us  great  caution  in  our  attempts  to  establish 
what  we  are  pleased  to  call  rational  canons,  by  which  to  deter- 
mine what  God's  word  ought  to  teach.  For  it  is  altogether  un- 
deniable that  neither  the  Greek  nor  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  do 
confine  themselves  to  a  single  name  for  God,  in  the  revekitions 
which  he  has  made  of  himself,  in  those  tongues :  it  is  certain, 
that  there  are  fewer  names  of  God,  considerably,  in  the  Greek 
than  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  :  and  it  is  extremely  probable,  if 
not  positively  certain,  that  there  are  more  names  of  God  in 
Hebrew,  than  in  any  other  tongue  in  which  the  true  knowledge 
of  him  has  ever  been  exhibited. 

3.  No  doubt,  it  is  easy  to  believe  and  to  comprehend  after 
facts  so  unexpected  are  made  known  to  us  by  the  Scriptures, 
that  there  are  important  considerations  why  God,  in  the  way  of 
aiding  our  manifold  weakness  and  enticing  us  to  the  most  care- 
ful and  assiduous  efforts  to  obtain  the  knowledge  of  him,  should 
condescend  to  reveal  himself  to  us  by  various  names,  as  well  as 
by  multiplied  acts,  and  perpetual  disclosures  of  his  being,  his 
nature,  and  his  will.     And  after  he  has  done  so,  it  is  not  too 

*  mh.  '  Gen.,  iii.  20. 


CHAT.  XIV.]        PRIMEVAL     FORM    OF     REVELATION.       201 

much  for  us  to  say  that  we  may  perceive  in  the  facts  themselves, 
abundant  intimation  that  the  analogy  which  seemed  at  first  so 
obvious,  from  the  case  of  man  to  the  case  of  God,  is  altogether 
unfounded  and  illusive  ;  because  the  nature  of  man  aud  the 
nature  of  God  are  altogether  dissimilar.  The  nature  of  man  is 
such,  that  each  man  being  one  personality,  and  no  man  being 
any  more  ;  each  one,  to  be  distinguished  by  a  proper  name  at 
all,  must  have  one  proper  name,  no  matter  of  how  many  parts 
that  proper  name  may  be  made  up  :  and  no  one  can  have  more 
than  one  proper  name,  without  incurring  the  risk  of  confusion. 
Man,  means  every  male  that  has  a  human  body  and  a  rational 
intellect,  and  an  immortal  soul :  and  Cain  means  a  particular 
individual  man  :  and  Abel  means  a  special  and  different  one  ; 
and  so  on  of  all  :  and  we  get  not  only  a  distinct,  but  a  complete 
idea,  in  each  case.  But  God  exists  in  such  a  manner  as  we 
learn  from  himself,  and  could  learn  no  otherwise,  that  we  should 
have  a  totally  false  conception  of  him  if  we  supposed  there  was 
but  one  personality  in  his  being,  since,  in  point  of  fact,  there 
are  three  personalities  in  his  being.  And,  therefore,  if  we  knew 
him  by  only  one  single  name,  however  exact  might  be  our  con- 
ception of  the  unity  of  his  being,  simply  as  a  unity  :  it  would 
be  a  false  conception  even  of  his  unity  itself  :  for  the  very  unity 
of  the  essence  of  God,  is  a  unity  in  which  three  divine  persons 
subsist,  and  not  a  unity  like  that  of  our  nature,  which  is  rep- 
resented by  a  single  personality.  With  us,  the  soul  and  the 
body  unitedly  make  one  person:  and  we  give  that  person  a 
name  :  Abraham,  Pontius  Pilate,  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero,  or  any 
other.  With  God  the  unity  lies  not,  as  with  us,  in  the  mode  of 
existence,  but  in  the  essence  of  the  being  ;  for  according  to  the 
mode,  there  are  three  persons  ;  while  according  to  the  essence, 
in  which  these  three  persons  subsist,  there  is  absolute  unity.  It 
is  very  obvious,  therefore,  that  to  obtain  a  similar  result  in  the 
two  cases,  namely  distinct  and  complete  ideas  of  the  being 
spoken  of,  there  must  be  a  very  different  system  of  nomenclature 
resorted  to  in  the  two  cases.  And  it  is  equally  manifest  that  the 
further  back  we  go  into  the  revelations  of  God,  the  more  copious, 
it  is  to  be  presumed,  will  be  those  appellations  assumed  by  him, 
to  present  a  distinct  and  complete  idea  of  himself  to  the  human 
mind.  So  that  even  in  this  apparently  subordinate  part  of  di- 
vine knowledge,  a  department  more  curious  than  fundamental 


202  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III, 

as  we  might  lightly  consider  it,  we  see  that  if  we  would  not  err, 
we  must  not  follow  human  subtilty,  but  must  walk  according  to 
divine  light.  So  walking,  we  find  even  from  the  beginning,  that 
divine  proportion  of  faith  which  underlies  all  the  Scriptures,  and 
that  glorious  insight  into  heavenly  things  which,  distinguishes 
every  utterance  of  them. 

II.  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss,  either  doctrinally  or  philo- 
logically,  with  any  special  thoroughness,  this  question  of  the 
revealed  names  of  God,  meaning  thereby  the  names  of  God  con- 
sidered simply  as  God.  But  having  cleared  the  only  point  that 
seemed  to  stand  directly  before  us,  I  proceed  to  state  succes- 
sively the  Hebrew  divine  names,  which  are  commonly  allowed  by 
scholars  :  adding  as  I  pass  on,  such  observations  as  seem  needful 
to  a  clear  understanding  of  each  particular,  and  of  the  concep- 
tion I  have  of  this  original  method  of  the  knowledge  of  God. 

1.  Jehovah.*  This  word  is,  apparently,  derived  from  the 
verb  of  existence.f  Its  signification  therefore  is  He  who  exists. 
The  Apostle  John,  perfectly  expresses  its  sense,  when  he  says, 
Grace  be  unto  you  and  peace,  from  him  which  is,  and  which 
was,  and  which  is  to  come.^  :  There  is  no  single  word  in  any 
human  speech,  which  expresses  its  full  sense  ;  otherwise  than  as 
men  may  agree  to  use  any  particular  name  of  God,  in  their  own 
languages,  to  represent  the  ideas  necessarily  comprehended  in 
the  word  Jehovah,  to  wit,  of  a  necessary  and  yet  voluntary,  eter- 
nal self-existence.  When  I  say  the  name  was  probably  derived 
from  the  radical  form  of  the  Hebrew  verb  of  existence,  I  merely 
speak  in  accordance  with  grammatical  indications  ;  for  it  might 
with  equal,  perhaps  greater  reason  be  said,  that  the  Hebrew 
form  of  the  verb  of  existence  is  derived  from  this  name  of  God. 
To  consider  questions  of  this  sort,  however,  belongs  to  a  discus- 
sion of  the  origin  of  language  in  general,  and  of  the  Hebrew 
language  in  particular  :  which  is  not  the  object  immediately 
before  us. 

2.  Some  divine  names  express  only,  or  chiefly,  some  property  ; 
but  it  has  always  been  admitted,  both  by  Jews  and  Christians, 
that  this  name  expresses  not  only  the  essence  and  being  of  God 
■ — but  his  eternal  and  unchangeable  self-existence,  and  that  it  is 
his  proper  name,  which  is  never  applied  to  any  creature.     There 

I'-rt}  pointed  PsjH'i   when  preceded  or  followed  by  '•bW. 

t   HJi"! — est,    fliii.  J    6   wv   Kal    o    iji>   KaX    b  cp^o/ievoi.      1  Rev.,  i.  4. 


CHAP.  XIV.]       PRIMEVAL    FORM    OF    REVELATION.       203 

are  various  grammatical  reasons,  peculiar  to  the  structure  of  the 
Hebrew  tongue,  whose  consideration  makes  it  positively  certain 
that  this  name  is  the  proper  name  of  God  ;  which  will  be  found 
stated  at  large,  by  various  scholars  who  have  expressly  treated 
the  subject.  It  is  however  enough  at  present,  to  say,  that  the 
fact  itself  is  repeatedly  asserted  in  the  Scriptures,  in  the  most 
precise  manner.  And  God  said  moreover,  unto  Moses,  Thusshalt 
thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  The  Lord  God  of  your 
fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of 
Jacob,  hath  sent  me  unto  you  :  this  is  my  name  forever,  and 
this  is  my  memorial,  unto  all  generations.1  The  sublime  song 
of  triumph  sung  by  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel,  at  the 
overthrow  of  the  Egyptians,  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  was  sung 
unto  him,  whose  name  is  Jehovah  !8  The  great  plea  of  David 
with  God,  why  the  enemies  of  the  eternal  King  should  be  ut- 
terly destroyed,  is  that  men  might  know,  that  he  whose  name 
alone  is  Jehovah,  is  the  most  high  over  all  the  earth.3  And 
amongst  all  the  multiplied  predictions  of  Christ,  hardly  one  is 
more  ample  or  more  majestic,  than  that  in  which  Isaiah  intro- 
duces Jehovah,  speaking  of  himself  and  of  Messiah,  and  declaring 
I  am  Jehovah  :  that  is  my  name  :  and  my  glory  will  I  not  give 
to  another  !4 

3.  So  great  has  been  the  superstitious  reverence  of  the  Jews 
for  the  name  Jehovah,  that  they  neither  write  it  nor  pronounce 
it,  and  as  a  people  have  done  neither  from  a  period  anterior,  in 
all  probability,  to  the  advent  of  Christ.  When  they  have  had 
occasion  to  write  it,  they  have  always  substituted  certain  signs 
for  it  :  and  instead  of  pronouncing  it  when  they  come  to  it,  in 
their  Scriptures,  they  pronounce  some  other  name  of  God,  gen- 
erally Adonai.  Indeed  Jewish  scholars  nearly  without  exception, 
long  held,  and  many  still  hold  that  the  vowel  points  used  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  with  the  word  Jehovah,  are  those  belonging 
to  the  consonants  which  make  the  word  Adonai,  and  not  to  those 
which  make  the  word  Jehovah  :  and  that  the  true  vowels,  and 
therefore  the  true  pronunciation  of  the  latter  word  are  utterly 
lost :  so  that  to  pronounce  it  as  we  do,  is,  as  they  say,  at  once  silly 
and  blasphemous.  The  diligent  student  will  find  in  the  works  of 
learned  Christians,  devoted  to  these  subjects,  all  these  matters 

1  Exodus,  iii.  15,  and  xx.  2.  2  Exodus,  xv.  3. 

3  Psalm  lxxxiii.  13.  *  Isaiah,  xlii.  8. 


204  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

fully  discussed,  and  cleared  up.  They  are  studies,  not  without 
a  certain  high  value  to  those  who  are  set  for  the  defence  of  the 
truth :  and  perhaps  I  ought  to  add  for  the  encouragement  of 
those  teachers  of  divine  truth  who  feel  authorized  to  neglect 
them — that  the  pursuit  of  them  is  as  far  from  being  difficult,  as 
the  neglect  of  them  is  from  being  either  safe  or  reputable.  No 
child  of  God  can  know  any  thing  about  the  revelation  which 
God  has  given  us  of  himself,  which  will  not  richly  repay  the  toil 
of  learning  it.  Indeed  I  may  be  allowed  to  add,  that  no  one  can 
know  any  thing  at  all  that  may  not  bo,  in  some  unexpected 
change  of  life,  of  the  utmost  value  to  him  :  while  we  ought  to  be 
assured  that  idleness  and  indifference  to  knowledge  are  amongst 
the  most  expensive  of  all  vices  :  for  they  not  only  squander  our 
present  time,  but  they  mortgage,  at  terrible  usury,  our  future 
usefulness  and  influence  in  life. 

4.  It  may  be  as  well  to  add  that  the  superstition  of  the  Jews 
just  alluded  to,  touching  the  name  Jehovah,  spread  very  widely 
over  the  Christian  church,  in  the  ages  succeeding  the  apostles, 
and  almost  universally,  during  the  middle  ages,  over  the  Latin 
and  Greek  churches.  The  reasons  for  this  unhappy  and  most  in- 
urrious  fanaticism  were,  however,  obvious  enough.  Amongst  the 
Latin  Fathers,  as  they  are  called,  who  wrote  in  the  Latin  lan- 
guage and  were  members  of  the  Koman  church,  whose  writings 
have  come  down  to  us,  the  great  mass,  during  ten  centuries  pre- 
ceding Luther,  probably  knew  not  even  the  letters  of  the  Hebrew 
alphabet :  while  Jerome  and  the  small  number  who  understood 
somewhat  of  that  tongue,  got  their  knowledge,  and  with  it  many 
Jewish  prejudices  and  follies  from  such  Eabbis  as  they  chanced 
to  obtain  instruction  from.  Instead  of  transferring  the  name 
Jehovah  into  Latin,  as  we  have  partially  done  into  English,  they 
translated  it  by  the  Latin  name  Dominus  ;  and  did  not  even  sig- 
nify by  any  special  mark  as  we  do  with  general,  though  not  with 
universal  accuracy,  as  we  will  see  presently,  by  small  capitals, 
where  Jehovah  is  translated  Lord,  that  this  special  name  of 
God  was  used  in  the  particular  passage.  The  ignorance,  there- 
fore, became  the  natural  vehicle  of  the  superstition,  both  of 
which  were  so  congenial  to  the  general  spirit  of  the  Romish 
church  :  and  until  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
the  revival  of  learning,  which  immediately  preceded  it,  there  wag 
hardly  left  in  the  western  church  any  suspicion  of  the  folly,  much 


CHAP.  XIV.]     PRIMEVAL     FORM     OF    REVELATION.        205 

less  any  way  to  correct  it.  God  had  ceased  to  be  known  as  Je- 
hovah, in  all  the  wide  dominions  of  antichrist :  a  fact  of  terrible 
significance,  still  too  much  overlooked,  in  the  prevailing  shallow 
mode  of  waging  the  battle  of  the  Lord  with  that  fearful  supersti- 
tion. After  suppressing  and  then  forgetting  his  adorable  name, 
the  pollution  of  his  worship  and  the  perversion  of  his  doctrine, 
were  altogether  natural.  And  then  the  working  with  all  deceiv- 
ableness  of  unrighteousness,  fairly  brought  them,  who  perish,  step 
by  step  in  impiety  and  folly,  until  the  supreme  act  of  their  reli- 
gion came  at  last  to  consist,  in  transubstantiating  a  piece  of 
bread  into  Jehovah-Tzebaoth  (the  Lord  of  Hosts),  then  adoring- 
it,  then  eating  it,  and  then  murdering  every  one  who  would  not 
do  the  like  ! 

5.  With  the  Greeks  the  case  was  more  peculiar  and  excusable, 
and,  perhaps  on  that  account,  had  a  very  different  result.  Among 
the  Greek  Fathers  the  knowledge  of  Hebrew  appears  to  have 
been  almost  as  rare  as  amongst  the  Latins  :  and  as  amongst  the 
latter  hardly  one  besides  Jerome,  so  amongst  the  former  hardly 
one  besides  Origen  can  be  named,  who  knew  that  tongue ;  while 
amongst  all  the  fathers  hardly  one  is  a  less  safe  guide  than  Ori- 
gen. The  Greeks  could,  no  doubt,  pronounce  the  name  Je- 
hovah; just  as  we  can  pronounce  many  sounds  which  are  not 
natural  in  our  language,  and  which,  therefore,  we  have  no  combi- 
nation of  letters  to  express.  But  it  is  manifest,  they  could  not 
express  the  pronunciation  by  any  combination  of  the  letters  of 
their  own  alphabet ;  as  any  one  will  see  who  makes  the  attempt, 
or  who  examines  the  attempts  made  by  Greek  scholars  them- 
selves. xVnd  therefore  they  could  not  transfer  the  word  Jehovah 
into  Greek  by  any  use  of  Greek  letters.*  The  word  was  of 
course  ineffable  to  them  ;  and  they  used  various  terms  and 
phrases  to  express  the  intractable  nature  of  this  glorious  name 
of  God  in  their  language.  The  fact  itself  is  extremely  curious : 
and  when  we  consider  the  providential  use  of  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, in  the  early  spread  of  the  Gospel,  and  in  being  made  the 

*  The  Greek  language  has  no  /,  which  we  substitute  in  the  word  Jehovah  for  the 
initial  y,  of  the  Hebrew ;  it  has  no  y,  as  a  consonant ;  it  has  no  v,  as  a  consonant ;  it 
has  no  h,  except  in  composition  with  and  always  after  /,  or  p,  or  c,  thus  f>,  <+>,  %  '•  or 
except  as  a  mere  aspirate  with  initial  vowels ;  and  it  has  amongst  its  vowel  sounds, 
nothing  to  represent  the  Hebrew  sheva  ;  that  is,  of  four  consonant  letters,  two  vowels, 
and  sheva,  which  make  the  Hebrew  word  Jehovah,  the  Greeks  have  only  the  two 
vowel  so  inds  in  their  language. 


206  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK    III. 

permanent  receptacle  of  the  Christian  revelation,  we  hardly  dare 
to  pronounce  it  accidental.  The  nature  of  God's  being,  when  it 
came  to  be  fully  explained  by  God  himself,  in  the  complete  exhi- 
bition of  the  plan  of  salvation  ;  seems  to  have  required,  in  order 
to  be  adequately  comprehended  by  man,  a  new  nomenclature,  in 
a  tongue  more  copious  and  delicate  than  that  in  which  he  had 
hitherto  revealed  himself.  And  so  retaining  in  that  venerable 
tongue,  all  that  he  had,  till  then,  revealed  concerning  his  essence 
and  operation  ;  he  chose  this  new  speech,  in  some  respects  so  dif- 
ferent from  the  other,  as  the  vehicle  of  those  more  explicit  state- 
ments, concerning  the  mode  of  his  being  and  action  without 
which,  the  work  of  Christ  was  wholly  incomprehensible.  It  was, 
if  we  may  venture  to  express  it  in  that  manner,  a  new  starting 
point  assumed  along  with  and  at  the  moment  of,  a  new  and  more 
explicit  manifestation  of  himself.  No  longer  a  question  of  the 
self-existent  God,  named  from  his  essence  and  his  attributes  : 
but  a  question  of  the  Father,  the  Word  and  the  Spirit,  acting, 
and  revealing  themselves  in  man's  salvation,  as  the  divine  per- 
sonalities which  subsist  and  act,  in  the  unity  of  that  infinite  es- 
sence. The  Jew  in  his  superstition,  refused  to  utter  the  proper 
name  of  that  divine  essence  :  the  Latin,  in  his  fanatical  ignor- 
ance, accepted  the  superstition  of  the  Jew  :  the  Greek  had  no 
means  of  expressing  the  word  in  his  own  tongue.  But  God  used 
his  tongue  to  express  perfectly  every  idea  contained  in  it,  and 
to  add  what  further  it  was  needful  for  us  to  know.  Yet  the  his- 
tory of  the  church  has  sufficiently  shown,  that  to  know  God  as 
we  should,  we  must  know  him  wholly  as  he  has  revealed  him- 
self :  since  it  is  not  to  our  curiosity  but  to  our  faith  that  he  is 
revealed. 

6.  It  is  of  great  importance  to  remark  that  the  name  Jeho- 
vah is  unquestionably  applied,  in  the  old  Testament  scriptures, 
both  to  the  Son  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  according  to  the  declara- 
tion of  Christ  and  the  belief  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament 
scriptures  :  so  that  if  any  of  them  were  inspired,  there  is  an  end 
of  the  question  of  the  supreme  Godhead  of  Christ  and  of  the 
Spirit.  As  that  question  is  not  now  under  discussion,  I  content 
myself  with  one  proof  as  to  each  aspect  of  it.  As  to  the  Son  ; 
In  the  book  of  Numbers,  it  is  said  that  the  people  much  dis- 
couraged, because  of  the  way,  spoke  against  God  and  against 
Moses.     And  the  Lord,  (Jehovah)  sent  fiery  serpents  among  the 


CHAP.  XIV.]     PRIMEVAL    FORM    OF    REVELATION.        207 

people,  and  they  bit  the  people  ;  and  much  people  of  Israel  died.1 
And  then  the  people  confessed,  they  had  sinned  against  Jehovah. 
And  Moses  bade  them  "pray  unto  Jehovah,"  and  he  also  prayed 
for  them.  And  the  Lord  commanded  Moses  to  make  a  fiery  ser- 
pent and  set  it  on  a  pole  :  And  Moses  made  it  of  brass  ;  and 
whosoever  was  bitten  and  looked  on  the  serpent,  lived.  Now, 
Christ  himself,  when  expressly  teaching  Nicodemus  the  way  of 
salvation,  tells  him  that  this  whole  transaction  illustrated  and 
pointed  to  his  own  crucifixion,  and  its  effects.2  And  Paul,  if 
possible,  more  directly  to  the  present  intent,  says,  Neither  let  us 
tempt  Christ,  as  some  of  them  also  tempted,  and  were  destroyed 
of  serpents.3  As  to  the  Holy  Ghost ;  In  the  same  book  of  Num- 
bers/ it  is  related  that  God,  angry  at  the  insolence  of  Miriam  and. 
Aaron  towards  Moses,  suddenly  appeared,  and  addressing  him- 
self directly  to  them,  explained  that  he  communicated  with 
Moses  in  a  manner  altogether  peculiar  and.  glorious  :  but  as  to 
every  other  prophet,  said  he,  I,  the  Lord — (Jehovah)  will  make 
myself  known  unto  him  in  a  vision,  and  will  speak  unto  him  in 
a  dream.5  But  Peter  tells  us  that  no  prophecy  of  the  scripture 
is  of  any  privato  interpretation  ;  and  that  no  prophecy  came  in 
old  time,  by  the  will  of  man  ;  but  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.0  The  personal  appellation  of 
God,  in  his  essence,  as  the  self-existent  and  eternal  Jehovah, 
therefore  includes  the  Son,  and  the  Spirit,  as  really  as  the 
Father. 

7.  The  last  observation  I  will  make  on  this  most  glorious  name 
of  God,  is  that  it  was  well-known  to  the  patriarchs  and  their 
cotemporaries.  Thus  God  said  to  Abraham,  I  am  the  Lord  (Je- 
hovah) that  brought  thee  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  to  give  thee 
this  land  to  inherit  it.7  At  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  Lot  said 
to  his  sons-in-law,  the  Lord  (Jehovah),  will  destroy  this  place." 
Abimelech  king  of  Gerar,  pleading  with  God,  in  the  matter  of 
Sarah,  said,  Lord  (Jehovah)  wilt  thou  slay  also  a  righteous  na- 
tion ?9  Laban  gave  Kebeckah  to  the  servant  of  Isaac,  and  said, 
to  him,  let  her  be  his  wife,  as  the  Lord  (Jehovah)  hath  spoken.1* 
And  so  in  multitudes  of  other  places.     The  passage  in  Exodus," 

i  Num.,  xxi.  5-9.  2  John,  iiL  14,  15.  3  1  Cor.,  x.  9. 

•  Num.,  xii.  5  Num.,  xii.  6.  «  2  Pet.,  i.  21. 

7  Gen.,  xv.  7.  8  Gen.,  xix.  14.  »  Gen.,  xx.  4. 

w  Gen.,  xxiv.  51.  "  Ex.,  vi.  i. 


208  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

where  God  tells  Moses  that  he  had  appeared  unto  Abraham  and 
Isaac  and  Jacob,  as  God  Almighty,  but  was  not  known  to  them 
as  Jehovah ;  plainly  means  that  though  the  patriarchs  knew  that 
name,  they  did  not  understand  its  import ;  God  having  revealed 
to  Moses  himself,  first  of  all,  that  it  peculiarly  designated  the 
divine  essence,  and  was  the  foundation  of  all  the  divine  attri- 
butes. 

III.  I  am  and  Jah.  Besides  the  name  Jehovah,  there  are 
two  other  names,  I  am,  Ehje,1  the  one  now  under  consideration, 
and  Jah,2  the  next  following  one,  which  seem  unquestionably  to 
be  expressive  of  the  essence  of  the  divine  being,  and  to  be  era- 
ployed  to  express  it,  and  in  some  degree  to  explain  it. 

1.  This  name  differs  much  less  from  the  name  Jehovah,  than 
its  English  pronunciation  would  allow  us  to  suppose.  Speaking 
grammatically,  it  differs  from  it,  in  fact,  only  as  Ehje  is  the  first 
person  singular,  and  Jehovah  is  the  third  person  singular,  of  the 
future  form  of  the  same  verb.3  They  really  differ  no  more  than 
/  will  be,  and  he  will  be,  or  /  am  and  he  is,  differ  in  English. 
This  name  occurs  as  applied,  in  this  way  to  God,  only  three 
times,  it  is  supposed,  in  the  Old  Testament  :  all  three  in  the 
third  chapter  of  Exodus.  When  the  Lord  appeared  unto  Moses, 
in  Mount  Horeb,  in  the  burning  bush — and  would  send  him  to 
deliver  his  people  out  of  Egypt :  Moses  desired  to  know  what  an- 
swer he  should  make  to  the  people,  when,  having  told  them  the 
God  of  their  fathers  had  sent  him,  they  should  demand,  What  is 
his  name  ?  And  God  said  unto  Moses,  I  am  that  I  am  ;  and 
he  said  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  I  am 
hath  sent  me  unto  you.4  If  the  words  of  the  answer  itself  were 
not  perfectly  explicit,  the  whole  context  would  render  it  certain, 
that  God  here  revealed  to  Moses  one  of  his  essential  and  eternal 
names,  as  a  token  from  him  to  his  people,  of  the  stupendous  de- 
liverance, which  he  was  about  to  work  out  for  them.  The  Lord 
Jesus,  in  a  direct  discussion  with  the  Jews  as  to  his  own  author- 
ity and  dignity,  applies  to  himself  this  very  name  of  God,  and 
the  eternal  existence  involved  in  it.     For,  Jesus,  said  unto  them 

1  ft"*!"*  2  **). 

3  tvvn  fait :  to  bo.  The  one  has  ,,  and  the  other  1,  in  the  second  syllable,  letters 
constantly  exchanged  for  each  other :  The  i  and  8,  in  the  first  svllablo  of  each  being 
only  the  sign  of  the  third  and  first  persons,  respectively. 

4  Ex.,  hi.  14. 


CHAr.  XIV.]      PRIMEVAL     FORM    OF    REVELATION.         209 

verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  Before  Abraham  was,  I  am.10  It 
was  impossible  for  theni  to  understand  this  except  in  one  way  ; 
so  they  took  up  stones  to  cast  at  him  :  and  Jesus  obscuring  himself 
by  a  miracle,  passed  through  the  midst  of  them  out  of  the  temple. 
Ehje  is,  /  ivill  be  :  or  as  the  Hebrew  future  is  very  often  used 
for  the  present,  and  the  past,  and  for  all  three  when  continued 
action  is  denoted,  it  is  simply  as  rendered  by  Christ  himself, 
I  am.  It  is  one  of  the  proper  names,  of  the  immutable,  self- 
existent  God,  by  which  he  desires  his  people  to  know  and 
honor  him  ;  especially  in  seasons  of  great  trial,  demanding  great 
trust. 

2.  Jahf  is  the  last  of  the  Hebrew  names  of  God  supposed  to 
be  personal  and  exclusive  to  him,  and  to  be  derived  from  the  es- 
sential nature  of  his  being.  The  Greek  translators  following  the 
Jewish  superstition  before  alluded  to,  with  regard  to  the  name 
Jehovah,  substituted  Adonai  for  it,  and  translated  both  words 
Lord.1;  They  probably  considered  Jah  to  be  either  the  first  syl- 
lable of  Jehovah,  or  very  closely  related  to  it.  The  prophet 
Isaiah  says,  in  the  Lord  Jehovah,§  is  everlasting  strength  ;~  from 
which  it  would  appear,  as  both  names  are  used  together,  that 
they  do  not  designate  precisely  the  same  thing  in  God.  What 
may  be  the  exact  difference,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  determine.  The 
Jews  themselves  say  that  Jah  denotes  especially,  the  clemency 
of  God.  Jerome  who  considered  that  Jah  was  not  derived  from 
Jehovah,  but  contrary-wise,  Jehovah  from  Jah,  by  doubling  it, 
supposed  it  expressed  the  invisibility  of  God  :  while  Maimonides, 
the  great  Jewish  scholar,  applied  it  to  the  eternity  of  God's  es- 
sence. Perhaps,  (and  this  is  my  own  opinion),  the  word  is  an 
original  independent  Hebrew  root,  which,  if  it  ever  had  a  partic- 
ular meaning  in  that  tongue,  independent  of  its  use  and  sense  as 
the  name  of  God,  has  lost  it,  as  for  us  :  and  designates  simply, 
and  perhaps  always  did,  the  primeval  idea,  He  is,  which  man  can 
form  of  that  infinite  being,  who  calls  himself,  in  addition  Ehje,  I 
will  be,  and  Jehovah,  was,  am  and  will  be.  Jah  is  God,  in 
our  naked  conception  of  him :  Ehje,  is  God  in  his  continuing 

1  John,  viii.  58. 

•:  r;;rs  nrx  rvr-X;  this  the  LXX.  translate  &yu  ciui  6  u>v:  and  Jerome,  if  he  is 
the  translator  of  the  Latin  Vulgate,  sum  qui  sum :  our  English  version  as  before  seen, 
/  am  that  I  am.  f  w\  %  Kvpioc. 

§  Jah — Jehovah.  -  Isaiah,  xxvi.  4. 

14 


210  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD  [BOOK  III. 

self-existence  :  Jehovah,  is  God  in  his  existence  from  eternity 
to  eternity. 

3.  The  word  Jah  is  used  occasionally  in  the  Old  Testament, 
especially  in  the  Psalms  :  but,  as  compared  with  other  names  of 
God,  very  much  less  frequently  than  most  of  them.  Its  use  in 
composition,  at  the  end  of  proper  names,  is  very  common,  and  it 
is  the  last  syllable  of  Hallelujah,  which  occurs  in  so  many  em- 
phatic passages,  both  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  as  if 
to  intimate  to  us,  that  our  fundamental  conception  of  God  is 
peculiarly  connected  with  our  chief  relation  to  him,  which  is  one 
of  praise  and  adoration.  That  it  is  one  of  the  names  of  God, 
assumed  by  himself  and  peculiar  to  himself,  it  seems  impossible 
to  doubt.  David  says,  Extol  him  that  rideth  upon  the  heavens, 
by  his  name  Jah,1  where  his  name  is  merely  transferred  into 
English.  And  the  whole  book  of  Psalms,  closes  with  the  solemn 
appeal,  Let  everything  that  hath  breath  praise  the  Lord  (Jah).'" 
Our  translators  manifestly  considered  this  name  of  God,  essen- 
tially one  with  the  name  Jehovah  ;  and  have  therefore  translated 
it  by  the  word  Lord,  printed  in  small  carntals.  An  error  to  be 
regretted  on  various  accounts,  amongst  the  rest  because  it  mis- 
leads  the  ignorant,  and  gives  needless  trouble  to  the  learned. 

IV. — 1.  The  three  Hebrew  names  of  God  hitherto  considered, 
are  supposed,  as  I  have  already  said,  to  appertain  in  a  special 
manner  to  the  divine  essence  itself.  The  names  which  remain 
are  believed  to  appertain  rather  to  certain  properties,  perfections, 
attributes,  or  habitudes  so  to  speak  of  this  divine  essence,  which 
are  peculiar  to  it,  as  God.  These  latter,  however  are  not  the  less 
really  names  of  God,  than  the  former  ;  but  they  differ  from  them 
obviously,  in  their  mode  of  application  to  him  ;  and  they  differ 
also  in  that  respect,  somewhat  amongst  themselves.  These  dif- 
ferences are  in  some  respects  grammatical,  belonging  to  the  very 
nature  of  the  language,  and  showing  in  that  a  designed  difference, 
in  the  character  of  the  names  applied  to  God.  In  other  respects, 
they  are  of  a  still  higher  and  more  intractable  kind,  showing  a 
profound  reason  in  the  subject-matter,  the  doctrine,  the  being 
himself,  why  the  distinction  in  his  names,  and  the  mode  of  using 
them,  should  be  preserved.  The  simplest  mode  of  expressing  the 
general  result  of  all  these  differences  between  the  names  already 
considered,  and  those  yet  to  be  spoken  of,  perhaps  is  to  say  that 
1  Psalm  lxviii.  4.  a  Psalm  cL  6. 


CHAP.  XIV.]     PRIMEVAL    FORM     OF     REVELATION.        211 

fche  former,  arc  personal  and  proper  names  of  the  divine  being, 
and  belong  exclusively  to  him  :  while  the  latter,  are  indeed  his 
names  also,  but  neither  exclusively  personal  nor  proper  to  him. 
The  names  of  the  former  kind  express  his  self-existence,  his 
etcrnitv,  his  unchansreableness,  and  his  infinitude:  but  the  first 
one  (Jehovah)  expresses  this  completely,  as  of  the  eternal  es- 
sence of  the  being  who  proposes  himself  to  his  creatures,  as  their 
God :  the  second  one  (Jah)  expresses  that  being  in  the  simplest 
sense  of  his  actual  existence  and  therewith  in  his  special  claims 
upon  the  boundless  trust  of  his  creatures:  and  the  third  one 
(Ehje)  expresses  the  same  being  in  the  continuing  existence  of 
his  infinite  essence,  and  therewith  in  his  special  claims  upon  the 
adoration  and  praise  of  his  creatures.  This  is  my  idea  of  the 
force  of  these  three  names  of  the  divine  essence  :  which  I  state 
not  without  diffidence.  Amidst  the  boundless  contentions  of 
scholars,  over  the  rind  of  the  subject,  they  seem  to  me,  to  have 
overlooked  the  part  of  the  matter,  which  was  the  most  important 
to  us,  and  the  most  clearly  intimated  in  the  Scriptures.  Never- 
theless, a  certain  reserve  is  always  becoming  on  our  part,  when 
we  think  we  see  plainly,  what  others  have  denied  or  overlooked  : 
while  yet  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  too  carefully,  all  shallow  and 
artificial  methods  of  examining  and  explaining  God's  word. 

2.  The  name  El,*  is  used  very  commonly  throughout  the 
Old  Testament  scriptures  to  designate  God  ;  and  as  far  as  I  can 
discover,  without  exception,  to  express  his  power,  greatness  and 
majesty.  Not  simply  God,  so  much  as  the  great  God  ;  the  infin- 
itely exalted,  the  almighty.1  Our  translators  make  it,  God  of 
Gods,  in  the  exalted  passage  in  which  the  prophet  Daniel  fore- 
tells, and  characterizes  the  wildest  extravagance  of  folly  and  im- 
piety in  him  who  shall  rise  up  to  resist  him,  in  the  latter  day.2 
Such  a  name  can  apply  properly  and  primarily  only  to  the  true 
God :  however  it  may  be  sometimes  applied  to  others  ;  differing 
in  this  use  from  the  personal  names  of  God.  As  for  example,  to 
idols  :  and  to  angels  :  and  to  inferior  creatures.  It  is  com- 
pounded in  the  names  of  persons  and  places  :  such  as  Israel, 
Bethuel,  and  multitudes  like  them.  In  the  names  of  angels  also, 
such  as  Michael,  Gabriel,  and  many  more.  Indeed  the  names 
of  nearly  all  the  angels  known  to  us  end  in  El :  a  very  curious 

*  Vk  Deus  Deorum :  Fortissimus  omnium  fortium  :  God  of  gods. 
1  Daniel,  xi.  3G.  8  Daniel,  xi  36. 


212  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

fact,  which  has  not  been  sufficiently  attended  to ;  nor,  as  far  as 
I  can  discover,  is  any  angel  at  all  mentioned  by  name  in  the 
scriptures,  before  the  Babylonish  captivity,  a  fact  also  not  a  lit- 
tle singular.  David  gives  it  as  the  peculiar  characteristic  of 
angels,  that  they  excel  in  strength,1  which  answers  precisely  to 
the  generic  addition  of  this  name  of  the  Almighty  to  the  name 
of  every  one  of  them,  if  indeed  that  is  true  of  their  countless 
hosts. 

8.  Lord  of  Hosts.*  The  word  Tzebaoth,  is  never  used  as 
a  name  of  God,  by  itself;  but  it  is  found  very  frequently  in  con- 
junction with  some  other  name  of  God.2  Thus  in  the  matter  of 
David's  strong  desire  to  build  a  house  for  God,  at  first  approved 
by  Nathan  and  afterwards  prohibited  by  the  express  command 
of  God,  yet  with  many  and  great  promises  to  David  and  his 
seed  ;3  we  have  complete  examples  of  the  use  of  this  remarkable 
name  of  God,  in  connection  with  other  names.  Many  years  after 
that  event,  David,  narrating  it  to  Solomon,  and  charging  him  to 
perform  what  tho  Lord  God  of  Israel  had  denied  to  him,  repeated 
distinctly  the  personal  reason  of  the  divine  prohibition,  which 
Nathan  had  only  intimated  in  a  general  manner  to  him.  The 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me,  he  tells  Solomon,  saying,  Thou 
hast  shed  blood  abundantly  and  hast  made  great  wars  :  thou 
shalt  not  boild  a  house  unto  my  name,  because  thou  hast  shed 
much  blood  upon  the  earth  in  my  sight.4  When  the  matter  oc- 
curred both  the  great  Prophet  and  the  great  King,  were  pro- 
foundly affected  by  it :  and  the  narrative  of  the  event,  and  the 
prayer  of  David,  preserved  by  Samuel,  form  one  of  the  most  in- 
structive passages  in  the  history  of  the  Old  Testament  church. 
Hardly  any  where  in  so  short  a  compass  is  the  name  of  God  used 
more  frequently,  more  earnestly,  or  more  variously.  In  the 
prayer  of  David,  occupying  only  twelve  verses,6  the  name  of  God 
occurs  about  twenty  times,  under  five  distinct  forms  :  namely, 
•Jehovah  ;  Adonai-Jehovah  ;  Jehovah  Elohim  ;  Elohim  ;  Jeho- 
vah-Tzebaoth  Elohim  and  Jehovah  Tzebaoth  Elohai.  In  our  Eng- 
lish version  four  forms  only  are  used,  namely :  Lord ;  Lord  God  ; 

1  Psalm  ciii.  20. 

*  m'NSa,  Jehovah  Tzebaoth  Elohim,  (1  Samuel,  viii.  26,)  N22,  exercitus:  Tzebaoth, 
tho  plural :  Hosts,  tho  Lord  of  Hosts,  God  of  Hosts,  tv.N^s  njrr,  and  rnK^.trnV^t. 

2  Isa.,  i.  9,  and  ili.  5  ;  Psalm  lxxx.  S-15,  and  lxxxiv.  9.       3  2  Sam.,  vii.  1-1 1. 

<  1  Chron.,  xxii.  8 ;  2  Sam.,  vii.  1-17.  5  2  Sam,  vii.  1S-29. 


CHAP.  XIV.]     PRIMEVAL    FORM    OF    REVELATION.        213 

God  ;  Lord  of  Hosts.  In  two  instances  the  name  Tzebaoth,  now 
under  consideration  occurs  in  this  passage  ;'  in  both  of  them,  fol- 
lowing Jehovah  :  and  in  one  preceding  Elohim  and  in  the  other 
preceding  Elohai,  which  is  a  form  of  the  same  word.  In  both 
instances  our  translators  render  Jehovah  Tzebaoth,  Lord  of 
Hosts,  and  separate  the  latter  part  of  the  name,  Elohim,  Elohai, 
rendering  it  God,  and  attaching  it  to  the  following  word  :  thus 
Lord  of  Hosts,  God  of  Israel  ;  and  Lord  of  Hosts,  God  over 
Israel.  Indeed  this  use  runs  through  the  whole  prayer,  and  is 
common  throughout  the  scriptures  :  thus  giving  one  name  to 
God,  and  adding  another  name  to  point  out  his  special  relation 
to  the  special  matter  there  treated  of.  Thus  Jehovah  of  Hosts, 
is  in  a  very  special  manner,  the  God  of  Israel.  And  it  is  most 
affecting  and  instructive  to  hear  David,  the  greatest  and  the  best 
of  all  kings  and  all  conquerors,  appealing  with  intense  earnest- 
ness, humility  and  confidence  to  God,  by  his  very  name  of  Lord 
of  Hosts  :  at  the  very  moment  when  the  desire  of  his  own  heart 
was  denied  to  him,  as  being  unsuitable  in  another  respect  of  God, 
just  because  God  had  so  continually  blessed  and  prospered  him 
in  his  service,  in  this  very  respect  of  God,  as  the  God  of  armies  ! 
X< "thing  could  more  obviously  confirm  what  has  been  all  along 
intimated,  namely,  that  there  are  in  the  nature  of  God,  as  it 
must  be  comprehended  and  appreciated  by  us,  profound  distinc- 
tions on  which  all  his  revealed  names  rest ;  which  distinctions 
belong  to  the  very  foundations  of  our  knowledge  of  God,  and 
which  it,  therefore,  supremely  imports  us  to  look  into. 

4.  The  word  Tzebaoth,  is  never  rendered  as  if  it  were  a  name 
of  God  :  but  always  in  our  English  scriptures,  descriptively  ;  as 
Lord  of  Hosts,  God  of  Hosts.  When  however  it  is  put  in,appo- 
sition  with  another  and  unquestionable  name  of  God,  as  Jeho- 
vah or  Elohim,  the  form,  as  well  as  the  sense,  renders  it  certain 
that  the  two  words  united,  make  one  name  of  God  :  thus  Elo- 
him-Tzebaoth,  or  Jehovah  Tzebaoth  :  like  Christ-Jesus,  or  Lord- 
God  ;  or  any  similar  form  ;  of  which  the  use  is  so  common,  and 
the  number  so  great  in  the  scriptures,  throughout  every  part  of 
them.  As  a  name  of  God  it  gives  a  most  exalted  conception  of 
his  power,  glory,  wisdom  and  dominion,  as  the  creator,  preserver, 
and  ruler  of  all  things,  and  especially  as  the  protector  and  de- 
fender of  his  people.     All  existing  things,  angels,  worlds,  men, 

1  2  Samuel,  vii.  26,  27. 


214  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

all  inferior  creatures,  and  all  endless  varieties  of  existences,  in  all 
their  innumerable  hosts,  through  all  their  countless  generations, 
in  all  their  infinitely  diversified  manifestations  ;  spring  from  the 
hand,  and  are  upheld  by  the  power,  and  guided  by  the  wisdom 
of  him  who  names  himself  not  as  by  individuals,  but  as  by  hosts 
cf  them,  Jehovah  Tzebaoth  Elohim,  The  Lord  God  of  Hosts. 

V. — 1.  Most  High,  Eljon.*  This  name  of  God  occurs  very 
frequently  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures :  especially  in  the  Psalms 
and  the  Book  of  Daniel.  The  Proto-Martyr  Stephen,  in  tlie  re- 
markable discourse  which  preceded  his  death,  applied  it  with 
great  emphasis,  under  its  Greek  form,f  in  quoting  the  sublime 
words,  which  the  prophet  Isaiah  says  were  spoken  to  him  by  Je- 
hovah.1 The  use  of  the  name  in  the  Book  of  Psalms  is  remark- 
able ;  as  a  single  example  may  suffice  to  show.  He  that  dwelleth 
in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  shall  abide  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Almighty.  I  will  say  of  the  Lord,  He  is  my  refuge 
and  my  strength  ;  my  God  :  in  him  will  I  trust.9  We  have  in 
these  few,  and  most  impressive  words,  four  of  the  names  whereby 
the  Supreme  being  has  made  known  his  nature,  to  man  :  The 
one  now  under  consideration,  Eljon,  Most  High  ;  one  already 
fully  considered,  Jehovah,  Lord  ;  and  two  remaining  to  be  con- 
sidered, Shaddai,  Almighty  ;  and  Elohai,  God.  And  then  the 
remainder  of  the  Psalm,  one  of  the  most  sublime  compositions 
ever  seen  by  man,  is  devoted  to  the  exposition  of  the  safety,  tri- 
umph, and  blessedness  of  the  righteous,  in  Eljon,  The  Most 
High  !  It  has  been  denied  that  this  is  properly  a  name  of  God  : 
they  who  do  this,  contending  that  it  should  rather  be  considered 
one  of  the  numerous  epithets  applied  to  God,  than  one  of  his 
names  ;  and  urging  in  support  of  that  judgment,  mainly  these 
two  considerations,  namely,  that  the  wrord  is  apparently  an  ad- 
jective, and  that  it  is  frequently  joined,  apparently  as  such,  to 
unquestionable  names  of  God.  The  answer  to  both  suggestions, 
is  obvious  :  namely  that  it  is  the  common  habit  of  the  Scrip- 
tures both  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  to  unite  two, 
three,  and  occasionally  even  four  names  of  God  in  a  single  ex- 
pression ;  and  that  to  deny  that  an  adjective,  as  well  as  a  verb, 
a  particle,  or  a  part  of  a  noun,  can  be  capable  of  the  use  in  ques- 
tion, is  mere  empiricism.     The  constant  use  of  this  word  in  the 

*  1"'^?.  t-ty'uiTog,  Excelsus,  Altissimus :  Most  High.  f  Tfiaroc. 

1  Acts,  vii.  48 ;  Isaiah,  lxvi.  1,  2.  a  Psalm  sei.  1,  2. 


CHAI\  XIV.]       PRIMEVAL     FORM    ,OF     REVELATION.       215 

Scriptures  as  a  name  of  God  and.  the  repeated  intimations  that 
it  is  his  name,  put  the  matter  out  of  question  :  for  these  are  the 
only  sources  of  our  knowledge  on  the  subject.  Nor  can  any  one 
imagine  a  more  appropriate  ground,  than  the  infinite  exaltation 
of  God  in  his  nature,  his  perfections,  his  works  and  his  acts,  for 
one  of  his  glorious  names  ;  or  a  more  fit  thing  to  reveal  to  man, 
by  a  specific  name,  and  as  one  of  the  foundations  of  our  knowl- 
edge of  God,  than  that  very  exaltation  of  his  glorious  being  ? 

2.  Adoxai,  Lord.*  This  name  of  God  is  rendered  by  our 
translators  with  the  same  word  (Lord)  used  to  render  the  name 
Jehovah  :  distinguishing  them  by  the  mode  of  printing  the  two  ; 
that  is  using  small  capital  letters  when  the  word  in  the  original 
is  Jehovah.  Very  frequently  both  names  occur  together  ;  thus, 
Adonai-Jehovah  :  and  in  such  cases  our  translators  render  and 
print  them  Lord-GoD,  using  the  small  capitals  for  the  latter 
word.  Adonai  is  perhaps  exactly  equivalent  to  the  Greek  Kvpiog, 
which  in  the  writings  of  the  Apostles  is  applied  continually  to 
Christ,  as  Adonai  is  applied  more  than  a  thousand  times  to  God, 
in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  The  idea  conveyed  by  this 
name  is  that  of  infinite  dominion  and  activity  combined  :  The 
Ruler,  The  Disposer,  The  Sustainer,  The  Lord  !  Nor  is  its  use 
less  obvious,  than  it  is  frequent,  as  an  example  will  plainly  show. 
The  prophet  Isaiah  has  recounted  a  most  glorious  vision  he  had, 
in  the  year  that  king  Uzziah  died,  that  is  about  seven  centuries 
and  a  half  before  Christ  ;  in  which  he  saw  the  Lord  (Adonai), 
sitting  upon  a  throne  high  and  lifted  up,  and  the  train  which 
surrounded  him,  filling  the  whole  temple.  Above  stood  the 
seraphim  ;  and  the  prophet  heard  tliem  crying  one  to  another, 
Holy  !  Holy  !  Holy  !  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts  (Jehovah-Tzebaoth)  : 
The  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory.  He  also  heard  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  (Adonai)  saying,  "Whom  shall  I  send  and  who  will  go 
for  us  ?  And  then  he  asked  the  Lord  (Adonai)  how  long  the 
stupidity  and  obduracy  of  his  people  should  continue.  And  the 
Lord  (Jehovah)  replied,  pointing  out  the  desolations — and  in- 

*  ",?",K.  This  is  a  peculiar  plural  form,  of  the  singular  V"'*'  Dominus.  It  is  some- 
times used  in  the  plural,  construct,  as  ""S^B  (Deut.,  x.  IT.),  sometimes  also  in  the 
plural  absolutely,  tPS'flK  (Malachi,  i.  G).  Most  frequently,  as  I  have  given  it  above. 
with  preceding  the  %  as  (Gen ,  xv.  2).  As  I  have  already  said,  this  form  of  the 
plural  in  *,  preceded  by  r ,  is  irregular,  and  is  intentionally  used  to  distinguish  it  as 
a  mere  name  of  God.  Tho  plural  in  \  preceded  by  ,  would  signify,  not  simply 
God,  but  my  God.     This  form  when  used  absolutely  is  applied  only  to  God. 


216  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

timating  some  mercy,  in  store  for  the  children  of  Israel.  Now 
it  will  he  observed  that  the  name  Adonai  is  used  interchangeably 
with  the  name  Jehovah,  and  with  the  name  Jehovah  of  Hosts. l 
But  the  particular  reason  why  I  have  selected  this  passage  to 
illustrate  what  so  many  hundreds  illustrate  as  well :  is  that  it  is 
quoted  with  great  emphasis  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures, 
and  applied  directly  to  Christ.  Christ  himself,  explaining  why 
he  taught  in  parables,  cites  the  words  which  Isaiah  heard  from 
Adonai-Jehovah-Tzebaoth.  concerning  the  obduracy  and  deso- 
lation of  Israel  ;  and  told  his  disciples  that  these  terrible  words 
were  fulfilled  in  the  generation  around  him.2  And  still  more 
explicitly,  the  Apostle  John,  who  after  quoting  one  of  the  most 
emphatic  of  the  Messianic  prophecies  of  Isaiah,3  in  such  a  way 
as  to  apply  it  to  Christ,  proceeds  to  quote  from  the  vision  Isaiah 
had  of  Adonai-Jehovah-Tzebaoth,  the  wrords  which  as  we  have 
just  seen,  Christ  had  cited  and  applied  ;  and  then  adds,  these 
things  said  Esaias,  when  he  saw  his  glory  and  spoke  of  him." 
The  glory  Isaiah  saw,  was  the  peculiar  glory  of  Messiah  ;  who 
in  the  ineffable  Trinity  is  thus  distinguished  as  Lord  God  of 
Hosts  ! 

3.  Shaddai,*  the  Almighty,  the  All-sufficient.  Our  English 
translators  have  uniformily  rendered  this  name  of  God,  by  the 
word  Almighty.  The  name  is  used  very  frequently  in  the  Jewish 
Scriptures  :  and  the  Greek  form  of  it  is  applied  again  and  again 
with  the  greatest  emphasis,  to  the  glorified  Kedeemer,  in  the 
New  Testament.  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and 
the  ending,  saith  the  Lord,  which  is,  and  which  was,  and  which 
is  to  come,  the  Almighty  :5  which  is  precisely  tantamount  to 
Christ's  saying  to  John,  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  I  am  Elohim- 
Jehovah-Shaddai  !  The  name  is  applied,  not  to  the  very  essence 
of  God,  but  to  that  unsearchable  peculiarity  of  the  divine  na- 
ture, which  we  call  its  All-sufficiency.  Like  those  names  which 
are  derived  from  his  very  essence,  this  which  carries  us  so  deeply 
into  the  nature  of  the  Godhead,  is  never,  in  its  simple  form  ap- 
plied to  any  thing  but  God  :  and  even  in  composition,  less 
frequently  than  they.  It  is  used  for  the  first  time  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, in  that  interview  between  God  and  his  servant  Abraham, 

1  Isa.,  vi.,  passim.  '2  Mat,  xiii.  10-17.  s  Isa.,  liii. 

*  John,  xii.  37-41.  *  T*,  UavroKfiaTup,   Omnipotens. 

8  Rev.,  i.  S,   iv.  8,   xi.  17,  xvi.  7. 


CHAP.  XIV.]       TRIMEVAL    FORM    OF    REVELATION.       217 

wherein  Grod  changed  the  patriarch's  name,  and  gave  him  the 
covenant  of  circumcision,  and  promised  him  a  son,  Isaac,  with 
whom,  and  in  whose  seed,  his  covenant  should  be  everlasting  : 
an  occasion,  it  must  be  allowed,  of  the  most  transcendent  interest, 
in  all  its  consequences,  to  the  whole  family  of  man.1  Confining 
ourselves  to  the  matter  immediately  before  us,  we  note  that  it  was 
under  these  wonderful  circumstances  that  God  revealed  himself 
to  the  Father  of  the  Faithful,  as  El-Shaddai,  The  All-sufficient 
God.  And  when  Abram  was  ninety  years  old  and  nine,  the 
Lord  (Jehovah)  appeared  to  Abram  and  said  unto  him,  I  am 
the  Almighty  God  (El-Shaddai)  ;  walk  before  me,  and  be  thou 
perfect.  And  I  will  make  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee, 
and  will  multiply  thee  exceedingly.  And  Abram  fell  on  his 
face  ;  and  God  (Elohim)  talked  with  him.2  In  these  few  lines, 
we  have  four  names  of  the  supreme  being :  namely,  Jehovah, 
El,  Shaddai,  and  Elohim.  That  is,  according  to  the  Hebrew, 
Jehovah-El-Elohim  is  Shaddai,  and  desires  Abraham  to  under- 
stand that  it  is  as  El-Shaddai  that  he  makes  this  wondrous 
covenant  with  him.  In  English,  it  stands  thus  :  Jehovah-Lord- 
God,  is  the  Almighty,  and  makes  this  covenant  of  circumcision, 
which  embraces  the  Messiah,  and  all  the  future  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  under  his  name,  God  Almighty  !  Multitudes  of  ex- 
amples equally  clear,  abound  in  the  Scriptures. 

4.  Eloiiim-Eloah,*  God.  These  two  names  of  God  remain 
to  be  considered  :  and  they  differ  from  all  that  have  gone  before. 
They  are  not,  like  Jehovah,  Ehje,  and  Jah,  derived  from  his  es- 
sence; nor  are  they  like  El,  Tzebaoth,  Eljon,  Adonai,  and  Shaddai, 
founded  upon  some  infinite  peculiar  property  of  the  supreme 
being.  They  seem  intended  rather  to  embrace  every  divine  prop- 
erty and  perfection  :  to  hold  forth  the  great  being,  Summum 
Numen,  as  comprehending  in  himself  every  Attribute  which  the 
Scriptures  reveal,  and  which  man  can  conceive  as  appertaining 
to  him  whom  he  calls  God.  They  differ  also  from  all  the  pre- 
ceding names  of  God  in  this  remarkable  particular,  that  they 
allow  grammatical  affixes  at  their  end  :  which  none  of  the  others 
do,  and  which  is  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  Hebrew  use  of  all 
proper  names.  Being  however,  unquestionably  names  of  God, 
they  are  distinguished  from  all  his  other  names,  by  being  called 

1  Gen.,  xvii.,  passim.  ''  Gen.,  xvii.  1-3.  *  V;s   E"hVx. 


218  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

Appellatives.*  It  lias  been  supposed  that  the  name  Jehovah 
expressed  the  unity  of  the  essence  of  God,  and  the  name  Elohim 
the  Trinity  of  persons  in  that  essence  :  an  opinion  not  sustained 
by  the  grammatical  reasons  usually  adduced  to  support  it.  And 
it  is  certainly  untrue  to  say  that  Elohim  is  never  used  except 
with  reference  to  the  Trinity  of  Persons  in  the  Godhead,  and 
Jehovah  never  except  with  reference  to  the  Unity  of  God's 
Essence.  Of  all  the  revealed  names  of  God,  Elohim  is  the  first 
and  by  far  the  most  frequently  used  in  the  Jewish  Scrip- 
tures. In  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  and  to  the  fifth  verse 
of  the  second  chapter,  no  other  name  of  God  occurs  with  refer- 
ence to  the  whole  work  of  creation,  and  the  appointment  and 
sanctification  of  the  sabbath  ;  while  the  name  Elohim  occurs 
about  thirty-five  times.  In  the  fifth  verse  of  the  second  chapter, 
the  name  Jehovah  appears,  for  the  first  time  ;  but  in  connection 
with  and  always  preceding  Elohim.  Thenceforward  through  the 
second  chapter,  which  recapitulates  the  work  of  creation  in  gen- 
eral, and  that  of  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  of  Adam  and  Eve  in 
particular,  and  wherein  the  Covenant  of  Works  is  revealed  ;  it 
is  Jehovah  Elohim  to  whom  every  thing  is  ascribed  ;  that  com- 
bined name  alone  being  used,  and  that  occurring  ten  or  twelve 
times.  Throughout  the  third  chapter,  which  recounts  the  fall 
of  man,  the  breach  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  the  entrance  of 
sin  into  the  world,  and  the  curse  of  God  upon  man,  upon  the 
earth  and  upon  the  tempter,  and  gives  the  first  intimation  of 
the  Covenant  of  Grace,  it  is  still  Jehovah  Elohim  who  does  all : 
Elohim  separately,  being  used  three  times,  in  the  conversation 
between  the  woman  and  the  serpent.  The  first  time  the  name 
Jehovah  is  used  separately,  is  in  the  fourth  verse  of  the  fourth 
chapter,  in  the  matter  of  Cain  and  Abel  ;  throughout  which,  as 
also  through  the  matter  of  Lamech  and  his  wives  to  the  end  of 
the  chapter,  the  name  Jehovah  is  used  separately  ;  except  that, 
in  the  twenty-fifth  verse,  Elohim  is  used  separately,  when  the 
birth  of  Seth  is  spoken  of.  No  other  name  of  God  but  these 
two,  and  they  only  in  the  manner  above  set  forth,  occurs  in 
these  four  chapters.  In  this  place  it  is  not  possible  to  develop 
the  ideas  which  these  statements  suggest.     But  when  we  con- 

*  Those  names  aro  found  in  the  Scriptures  under  the  following  forms:    ftlsN— DTiVn 

■fifes- :  and  with  the  final  affixes  *£&»  my  God  T&$  llis  God.   T^jS  <•"}'  God, 
etc. :  the  form  with  the  affixes  being  very  various. 


CHAP.  XIV.]        PRIMEVAL     FORM     OF     REVELATION.       219 

skier  the  marvellous  and  perfectly  unique  character  of  this  por- 
tion of  the  word  of  God,  there  seems  to  be  an  unspeakable  fitness 
in  the  connection  which  the  statements  I  have  made  points 
out  between  the  transcendent  events  recorded,  and  the  trans- 
cendent  aspect  in  which  he  who  is  the  author  of  those  events,  is 
exhibited  to  the  universe.  It  is  God  made  known  to  us  in  those 
names  by  which,  on  the  one  hand  every  perfection  of  his  infinite 
being  is  intimated  to  us,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  self-existent 
and  eternal  nature  of  that  infinitely  perfect  being  is  held  before 
us.  It  is  this  God  of  whom  we  have  this  primeval  revelation  : 
itself  full  of  overpowering-  majesty,  and  fraught  with  the  first 
existence  and  the  whole  fate  of  the  universe  !  And  the  events 
themselves  are  such  as  could  appertain  only  to  such  a  -God. 
A  universe  created  :  a  covenant  of  eternal  life  established  :  the 
universe  and  the  covenant  destroyed  together :  both  recovered 
by  a  still  more  glorious  covenant  of  divine  grace  !  It  is  the 
Lord,  God,  Creator,  Saviour  ! 

5.  In  conducting  this  inquiry,  it  has  not  happened  that  it 
was  necessary  to  speak  particularly  of  the  persons  of  the  God- 
head, except  occasionally  and  incidentally,  especially  of  the  Son 
of  God.  The  subject  matter  has  been  God,  considered  simply  as 
God :  considered  in  the  first  great  outlines  in  which  he  reveals 
himself  to  man,  by  the  names  which  he  assumes  in  order  to  make 
his  absolute  Nature  and  his  most  peculiar  perfections  known  to 
us.  His  eternal  self-existence  :  His  infinite  Godhead,  as  the 
Most  High;  the  All-sufficient  ;  the  Lord  of  Hosts  ;  the  bound- 
less Ruler  and  Disposer ;  the  Great  Being,  full  of  all  perfection. 
This,  it  appears  to  me,  is  a  true  and  systematic  Revelation  :  the 
fundamental  type  of  all  Revelation  touching  the  being  and 
perfections  of  God.  Being  so,  it  would  necessarily  occur,  that 
as  to  God  the  Father,  all  these  are  primary  Revelations  of  him. 
And  with  the  complete  volume  of  divine  truth  in  our  hands, 
nothing  is  easier  than  to  show  that  all  these  primary  truths  of 
the  Godhead,  apply  to  every  divine  person  inseparably  united  in 
the  essence  of  that  inscrutable  existence  ;  and  therefore  that 
they  apply,  and  that  the  Scriptures  clearly  teach  that  they  do 
apply,  as  really  to  the  Son,  and,  to  the  Holy  Ghost  as  to  the 
Father.  But  it  does  not  appear  to  me  necessary  or  pertinent  to 
develop  that  in  this  place. 

VI. — 1.  Without  entering  too  far  into  the  subject,  it  may  be 


220  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

observed  that  in  the  Hebrew,  as  in  all  other  languages,  there 
are  multitudes  of  phrases,  and  epithets,  whose  primary  sense 
may  have  no  particular  relevancy  to  God  ;  but  which  are  capa- 
ble of  such  an  application,  and  which  are  actually  so  applied  as 
necessarily  to  mean  him.  The  Scriptures  are  full  of  instances 
of  this  sort.  Yet  we  cannot  on  this  account,  say  that  such 
phrases  and  epithets  become,  in  any  proper  sense,  names  of  God. 
If  we  say  the  Nazarenc,  the  crucified,  the  man  of  sorrows  :  we 
may  be  understood,  at  once,  as  meaning  the  Saviour.  But  these 
are  not  in  any  proper  sense,  names  of  the  Son  of  God. 

2.  It  may  be  observed  in  the  same  general  way,  that  both 
the  Greek  and  the  Latin  languages,  as  well  indeed  as  our  own 
and  all  others  of  which  I  have  any  knowledge,  are  much  more 
limited  in  the  names  by  which  they  express  the  existence  and 
perfections  of  God,  than  the  Hebrew.  Qeog  and  avpiog :  Deus 
and  Dominus  :  God  and  Lord  :  almost  exhaust,  in  these  lan- 
guages respectively,  the  proper  and  peculiar  appellations  of  the 
supreme  being.  In  translating  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  or  using 
their  divine  teachings  in  any  other  tongue,  a  great  danger  of 
confusion  and  error  must  result  from  this  singular  richness  of 
that  language,  compared  with  the  singular  poverty  of  others. 
A  danger  which  renders  such  general  expositions  as  that  herein 
attempted,  a  necessary  part  of  all  systematic  inquiries  into  the 
true  Knowledge  of  God. 

3.  If  we  will  take  the  trouble  to  reflect  we  shall  perceive  that 
a  very  small  part  of  the  distinct  ideas  we  obtain  on  any  subject, 
have  any  fixed  names  appropriated  to  them  ;  and  that  this  is 
one  reason  why  the  general  progress  of  mankind  in  knowledge 
is  not  more  rapid,  and  why  the  minds  even  of  educated  persons, 
so  frequently  exhibit  confusion  and  perplexity  on  subjects  with 
which  they  might  be  presumed  to  be  familiar.  In  the  same 
manner  when  we  have  arrived  at  a  degree  of  knowledge  con- 
cerning the  supreme  being,  sufficiently  precise  to  give  to  the 
conception  which  we  have  of  him,  a  distinct  name,  or  in  other 
words  to  give  that  name  to  him  :  it  is  easy  to  see,  not  only  that 
we  have  already  reached  a  certain  exact  amount  of  information, 
but  that  by  this  means  we  are  most  certain  at  once  to  retain  it 
and  to  extend  it.  It  is  not  therefore  an  idle  curiosity,  but  it  is 
a  solid  and  enduring  process,  by  which  to  systematize  and  extend 
our  knowledge  of  God;  as  he  has  revealed  himself  to  us,  that  we 


CHAP.  XIV.]      PRIMEVAL    FORM    OF    REVELATION.  221 

are  fostering  when  we  push  soberly  but  thoroughly,  such  in- 
quiries as  these  into  the  very  root  of  God's  revelations  to  us. 
And  they  occupy  no  place  so  appropriately  as  one  at  the  very 
entrance  of  those  immense  inquiries  which  concern  the  mode  of 
his  intimate  existence,  and  constant  manifestation.  To  these, 
by  our  method,  having  proved  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  tho  Great 
Teacher,  to  be  on  the  throne  of  the  Universe  ;  and  now  rinding 
in  the  very  names  of  the  Godhead  which  he  possesses,  the  type 
of  all  Revelation  ;  we  are  fully  come — seeking  in  his  glorious 
light,  that  light  which  for  us  exists  nowhere  else. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE  MODE  OP  THE  DIVINE  EXISTENCE :  UNITY  OP  ESSENCE : 
TRINITY  OF  PERSONS. 

I.  1.  The  method  of  man's  salvation  determined  by  the  mode  of  God's  existence. — 2. 
General  nature  of  this  relation. — 3.  Particular  explanation  of  it. — II.  1.  Salvatioa 
is  possible  only  through  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. — 2.  These 
three  Divine  Persons  must  co-operate,  or  all  men  must  perish. — 3.  This  great 
mystery  thoroughly  practical  and  fundamental. — III.  1.  The  scriptural  idea  of 
God.  The  decisive  nature  of  this  fact. — 2.  The  unity  of  the  Divine  Essence. 
The  Godhead  under  that  aspect. — 3.  God  is  an  Infinite  Spirit — subsisting  in  three 
Persons  and  one  Essence. — 4.  This  Unity  of  Essence,  and  this  Trinity  of  Persons, 
alike  fundamental. — 5.  Elemental  truths  recapitulated.  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. — 
IV.  1.  Aspect  of  the  Godhead  considered  in  its  Unity  of  Essence  and  Trinity  of 
Persons. — 2.  Peculiar  sense  in  which  the  word  Person  is  applied  to  the  Godhead. 
— 3.  Divine  origin  of  this  knowledge  of  God. — V.  1.  General  results  of  Divine 
truth,  bearing  on  the  relation  of  the  mode  of  God's  being  to  the  plan  of  salvation. 
— 2.  The  names  of  God  in  this  respect,  both  as  they  are  essentially,  and  as  they 
are  personally  applied.' — 3.  One  essence:  oneness  of  essence:  consubstantial : 
triune — not  triplex. — 4.  Distinctions  between  the  Divine  Essence  and  the  Divine 
Persons :  and  between  the  Persons  themselves.  Salvation  for  man  impossible, 
unless  God  exists  in  this  manner. — VI.  1.  The  Unity  of  the  Divine  Essence,  ren- 
dered more  obvious  by  means  of  the  Divine  Persons. — 2.  The  scriptural  use  of  the 
names  of  God,  with  respect  to  the  Divine  Essence  and  the  Divine  Persons. — 3. 
The  revealed  method  of  the  Divine  existence  perfectly  distinct  and  systematic. — 

4.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  and  the  plan  of  salvation,  stand  or  fall  together. — 

5.  The  exact  points  of  the  mystery  of  this  particular  mode  of  the  Divine  existence. 

I. — 1.  The  mode  in  which  salvation  can  be  offered  to  sinful 
men,  must  necessarily  depend  upon  the  nature  of  God  himself : 
and  as  the  nature  of  God  and  the  mode  of  his  existence,  must 
necessarily  depend  on  each  other — if  they  be  not  essentially  the 
same  thing — it  follows  that  the  mode  of  God's  existence  must 
determine  the  method  of  man's  salvation. 

2.  It  might  be  true  that  God  might  fail,  or  even  refuse  to 
reveal  to  man,  any  thing  beyond  the  mere  fact  and  method  of 
salvation  ;  but  even  in  that  case,  it  would  be  impossible  to  avoid 
seeing,  that  a  connection  existed  which  Avas  not  explained  to  us, 


CHAP.  XV.]       MODE    OF    THE    DIVINE     EXISTENCE.         223 

and  which  therefore  we  might  not  understand.  Just  as  now,  in 
various  parts  of  God's  dealings  with  us,  we  clearly  perceive  that 
a  connection  does  exist — which  it  exceeds  our  capacity  to  un- 
ravel, and  which  God  has  not  seen  fit  to  explain  completely — 
or,  in  some  instances,  at  all.  As,  for  example,  the  connection 
which  exists  between  the  unehangeableness  of  God,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  his  being  the  answerer  of  prayer,  on  the  other  ;  con- 
cerning which,  we  know  that  both  are  certain,  and  that  they 
mutually  consist  with  each  other  :  but  how,  we  do  not  perceive. 
But  when  God  is  pleased,  not  only  to  point  out  to  us  clearly 
and  precisely,  that  a  connection  of  this  sort  does  exist — as,  for 
example,  that  between  the  mode  of  his  own  existence,  and  the 
method  of  man's  salvation  :  but  when  he  goes  much  further  than 
this,  and  plainly  and  explicitly  reveals  to  us,  the  exact  nature 
of  the  relation  of  these  two  sublime  mysteries  to  each  other  ;  it 
is  an  unspeakable  folly  and  impiety  in  us,  to  shut  our  eyes  to 
the  light  of  heaven,  and  harden  and  stupefy  our  hearts  against 
the  wisdom  that  is  from  above. 

3.  For  if,  as  has  been  shown  in  a  former  chapter,  the  salva- 
tion of  man  is  impossible  except  through  the  interposition  of 
God — and  impossible  even  then  except  as  the  salvation  of  a 
moral,  rational,  accountable,  and  yet  fallen  creature — from  sin 
and  its  fruits  ;  and  if,  as  has  also  been  proved,  that  salvation 
for  that  creature  is  secured  by  Immanuel,  the  Mediator,  Prophet. 
Priest,  and  King  :  then  it  follows  that  the  knowledge  and 
fruition  of  that  salvation,  are  not  only  dependent,  absolutely, 
upon  the  knowledge  of  the  divine  Saviour  as  he  exists,  inter- 
poses and  acts  ;  but,  in  a  manner,  that  knowledge,  in  the  power 
and  the  grace  of  it,  is  in  fact  the  very  salvation  itself  ;  and  ig- 
norance thereof,  is,  in  effect,  the  perdition  of  the  sinner.  Well 
may  Christ  say,  Teach  all  nations  !  And  well  may  we  say,  that 
the  most  childlike  faith,  does  not  impeach  the  profoundest  medi- 
tations of  philosophy,  when  it  conducts  us  directly  to  the  feet 
of  the  Great  Teacher,  for  all  our  knowledge  of  God. 

II. — 1.  It  is  thus,  only  more  clearly,  that  the  case  is  put  by 
the  Apostle  Paul.  What  comes  by  Christ,  he  argues,  is  far 
greater  and  more  glorious,  than  all  that  came  before  ;  but,  they 
who  neglected  the  word  spoken  by  angels  perished  ;  therefore, 
they  shall  more  certainly  perish,  who  neglect  the  great  salvation 
now  offered  to  them.     What  great  salvation  ?     Why,  that  which 


224  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

begun  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord  ;  that  which  God  confirmed, 
with  signs  and  wonders  :  that  which  the  Holy  Ghost  attested, 
with  miracles  and  gifts.1  Can  there  be  the  least  doubt  that  it  is 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Spirit,  who  are  here  s}3oken  of  by 
Paul  ?*  A  divine  salvation,  more  glorious  than  that  made 
known  by  angels,  is  revealed  by  the  Son  :  it  is  confirmed  by 
the  wonders  wrought  by  the  Father  :  it  is  attested  by  the  mir- 
acles, performed  through  the  Spirit  :  and,  beyond  all  controversy, 
men  must  perish,  if  they  neglect  it. 

2.  What  is  of  the  last  consequence  to  us  to  note  is,  that  the 
matter  here  put  at  risk,  is  neither  more  nor  less,  than  our  own 
salvation.  They  whom  Paul  calls,  respectively,  God,  the  Lord, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  perform,  each  one  a  part,  without  which 
there  is  no  salvation  at  all  ;  a  part  which  establishes  and  com- 
pletes the  salvation  itself — works  it  out,  .applies  it,  and  makes  it 
effectual.  It  is  of  no  particular  consequence,  just  here,  what 
those  respective  parts  may  be  ;  the  thing  that  is  of  consequence, 
and  that  is  fundamental  and  overwhelming  in  its  consequence, 
is,  that  it  is  our  only  hope  of  salvation  ;  and  that  three  divine 
persons,  receiving  the  very  highest  divine  titles  known  to  the 
Greek  Scriptures,  are  declared  to  have,  each,  a  part  in  it — 'With- 
out which,  all  must  fall  to  the  ground. 

3.  This  great  question,  then,  of  the  mode  of  God's  being,  is 
put  by  the  Scripture  itself,  in  the  very  front  of  practical  religion. 
To  say  we  cannot  understand  it,  is  to  say  we  cannot  understand 
how  wo  are  to  be  saved.  To  say  we  will  not  consider  it,  is  to  re- 
fuse to  examine  the  only  way  by  which  we  can  escape  perdition. 
To  say  we  cannot  accept  God's  teaching  concerning  it,  is  to 
give  up  our  last  hope  of  deliverance.  Nor  is  it  too  much  to  as- 
sert, that  starting  from  this  point,  every  proposition  concerning 
the  salvation  of  sinners,  becomes  clear  in  proportion  as  our  views 
are  distinct  concerning  the  mode  in  which  the  being  of  God 
stands  related  to  the  divine  scheme  of  man's  redemption  ;  and 
that  every  proposition  is  obscured,  in  proportion  as  our  concep- 
tion is  dull,  and  our  faith  weak,  touching  the  nature  of  the  God- 
head, and  the  relations  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  to  each  other,  and  to  the  work  of  our  restoration  to  God. 

III. — 1.  The  prime  idea  which  the  Scriptures  give  us  of  God, 

1  Heb.,  ii.  1-4. 

*  Otof,  Kvptoc,  Tivevfia  uytov,  are  tho  divine  names  used  by  the  Apostle. 


CHAT   XV.]       MODE     OF     THE     DIVINE     EXISTENCE.        225 

is  that  of  a  self-existent  Spirit,  who  is  infinite,  eternal,  and  un- 
changeable ;  who  fills  immensity,  and  who  is  the  creator,  the 
preserver,  and  the  ruler  of  the  universe,  and  of  every  created 
thing  therein.  We  are  so  familiar  with  the  form  of  words  in 
which  we  express  the  elements  of  this  stupendous  idea,  that  it, 
is  only  when  our  attention  is  aroused,  by  our  being  brought  in 
contact  with  the  productions  of  those  ages  and  races  that  were 
destitute  of  them  ;  or  by  its  becoming  necessary  fur  us  to  take 
them  apart,  and  examine  them,  and  recombine  them  ;  that  wc 
are  adequately  impressed  with  their  superhuman  grandeur.  The 
bare  existence  in  the  human  mind,  of  such  an  idea  of  God,  as 
is  distinctly  set  before  us  throughout  the  Scriptures,  is  of  itself 
perfectly  decisive.  For,  if  the  Scriptures  arc  divine,  then  the 
idea  is  divinely  realized,  and  is  true  ;  but  if  the  Scriptures  are 
not  divine,  then  the  idea  is  the  spontaneous  and  irrefragable 
natural  response  of  the  soul  itself  to  its  infinite  creator — and  is 
still  true.  We  need  hardly  ask  ourselves,  however,  where  man 
obtained  that  idea.  For  after  it  has  been  clearly  stated  in  writ- 
ing for  so  many  centuries,  and  after  such  immense  and  enduring 
labors  to  fix  it  in  the  human  mind,  but  a  small  portion  of  the 
human  race  has  ever  yet  received  it  clearly — and  every  part  of 
that  race  which  has  received  it,  has  shown  itself  prone  to  obscure 
and  to  forget  it. 

2.  The  unity  of  the  Godhead,  the  absolute  oneness  of  his 
self-existent  essence,  is  the  fundamental  conception  of  his  being. 
His  existence  is,  therefore,  in  the  very  nature  of  it,  anterior  to 
all  other  existences,  and  is  necessarily  preclusive  of  all  being, 
that  does  not  exist  from,  and  in  him.  He  is  self-existent,  and 
therefore  infinitely  simple  and  immense  ;  necessarily  from,  and 
to  eternity  ;  boundless  in  power  and  in  intelligence.  His  exist- 
ence is  by  consequence,  infinitely  pure,  and  right,  and  free  ;  im- 
measurably good  and  blessed.  In  what  particular  manner  such 
a  being  would  manifest  its  life  and  activity  ;  or  in  how  many 
glorious  and  boundless  ways  ;  we  could  know  only  as  the  result 
of  our  personal  experience — or  by  means  of  his  own  revelation 
to  us.  But  we  cannot  comprehend,  organized  as  we  are,  and 
knowing  what  has  been  made  known  to  us,  how  such  a  being 
could  fail  to  manifest  a  life  and  exert  an  activity,  proportioned 
to  the  infinite  perfections  of  his  nature  :  since  no  existence,  of 
which  we  know  any  thing,  is  exempt  from  this  invariable  law 

15 


226  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

of  all  being.  It  is  not  possible,  therefore,  for  us  to  fail  to  re- 
cognize in  God,  the  infinite  Creator  of  the  universe — its  infinite 
providential  ruler — the  eternal  giver  of  all  its  laws,  written  and 
unwritten — natural  and  moral — the  unfailing  and  satisfying 
source  of  all  mercy  and  all  felicity — the  sure  and  righteous 
avenger  of  all  evil  and  wrong,  forevermore.  And  now,  and 
always,  after  we  have  striven  the  most  earnestly  to  utter,  simply 
and  clearly,  what  Ave  had  before  learned  from  God  himself ;  how 
incessantly  are  we  driven  back  to  the  statements  of  the  Scrip- 
tures for  all  just  and  comprehensive  expression  of  the  idea  which 
they  alone,  have  adequately  embodied,  of  Jehovah  !  What  a 
testimony  is  this  to  the  record,  which  God  has  given  us  of  him- 
self !  "What  a  proof,  that  in  these  sublime  mysteries,  the  very 
least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater  than  the  very  greatest 
ever  born  of  woman  ! 

3.  Our  blessed  Redeemer,  in  his  memorable  conversation  with 
the  woman  of  Samaria,  at  the  well  of  Sychar,  said  to  her  plainly, 
God  is  a  Spirit  :  and  they  that  worship  him,  must  worship  him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth.1  But  it  is  also  said  of  Christ,  The  Lord 
is  that  Spirit  :  and  where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is 
liberty  :*  and  not  less  emphatically,  The  first  man  Adam  was 
made  a  living  soul,  the  last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  Spirit.3 
And,  yet  again,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  name  commonly  given 
throughout  the  Scriptures,  especially  of  the  New  Testament,  to 
that  divine  being  by  whose  agency  all  the  grace  of  God  is  made 
effectual  in  our  salvation.4  In  these  declarations,  therefore,  we 
are  advanced  in  the  scope  and  certainty  of  our  knowledge  touch- 
ing the  awful  mystery  of  the  divine  existence.  It  is  capable  of 
being  demonstrated — and  that  demonstration  has  been  attempted 
in  a  former  chapter — that  the  general  mode  of  God's  existence, 
is  that  of  an  infinite  Spirit  ;  and  now  we  have  this  great  truth 
confirmed  by  divine  revelation  ;  and  the  further  truth  added, 
as  already  seen,  that  that  infinite  Spirit  subsists  and  acts,  in 
man's  salvation,  as  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  :*  and  now 
again,  and  further,  that  each  of  these  persons  is  also  a  Spirit. 

4.  It  is  impossible  to  let  the  idea  of  the  absolute  oneness  of 
the  Godhead  slip  from  us,  or  be  in  the  least  encroached  upon, 
without  subverting  the  foundations  of  the  entire  spiritual  sys- 

1  John,  iv.  2-4.  J  2  Cor.,  iii.  17.  3  1  Cor.,  XT.  45. 

*  Gal ,  iv.  6  ;  1  John,  v.  7  ;  2  Cor.,  xiii.  14.  *  Qeoc,  nvoiog,  trvevfia  uyiov 


CHAP.  XV.]       MODE     OF    THE     DIVINE     EXISTENCE.         227 

tern,  revealed  in  the  Scriptures — and  shutting  ourselves  out  from 
every  hope  of  the  eternal  life,  brought  to  light  through  them. 
Hear  0  !  Israel  :  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord,*  is  the  first 
principle  ;  and,  thou  shalt  have  no  other  Gods  before  me,  is  the 
first  duty,  of  revealed  religion.1  Yet  on  the  other  hand,  that 
there  exists  a  plurality  of  some  sort — and  that  distinctly  three- 
fold— in  this  divine  nature,  is  just  as  clearly  certain,  from  the 
Scriptures,  as  that  the  essence  itself  is  undivided  :— certain  from 
their  entire  tenor,  and  certain  from  their  distinct  and  repeated 
statements.  Thus,  There  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven, 
the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  and  these  three 
are  one.2  And,  when  Jesus  was  bajitized,  the  Spirit  of  God  de- 
scended visibly  upon  him,  and  the  voice  from  heaven  said,  this 
is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased.3  And  in  the 
memorable  conversations  with  his  Apostles,  preceding  his  cruci- 
fixion, of  which  the  Apostle  John  has  preserved  so  full  an  ac- 
count ;  the  Saviour  in  promising  the  Comforter  to  his  people, 
has  carefully  explained  the  divine  relations  of  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  each  other,  in  the  matter  of  our 
salvation,  and  to  that  salvation  itself.4 

5.  These,  therefore,  are  the  fundamental  conditions  of  the 
nature  of  the  divine  existence,  as  to  the  mode  of  its  being,  so 
far  as  we  are  informed  :  first,  that  the  mode  of  that  infinite 
self-existence,  is  wholly  a  spiritual  mode  :  secondly,  that,  as  to 
the  essence  of  that  infinite  Spirit,  the  mode  of  its  existence,  is 
with  absolute  simplicity  and  unity  :  thirdly,  that  in  the  unity 
of  that  divine  essence,  that  essence  hath  eternally  a  method  of 
subsisting  and  acting,  which  we  express  by  saying  there  are  three 
persons  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead,  to  wit,  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost.  These  elemental  truths  make  up  the 
leading  conceptions  contained  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity — 
and  embraced  by  that  word. 

IV. — 1.  It  is  to  be  constantly  borne  in  mind,  that  the  sense 
in  which  the  unity  of  the  Godhead  is  affirmed,  and  the  sense  in 
which  the  threefold  personality  of  the  Godhead  is  affirmed,  is 
not,  and  cannot  be,  of  the  Godhead  in  the  same  view  and  con- 

*  ";r«  rrrr   ss^WVt!  n'n*. 

1  Deut.,  vi.  4 ;  Exod.,  xx.  3.  3  1  John,  v.  7.  3  Mat.,  iii.  16,  17. 

*  John,  xiv.  15-26,  xv.  26,  xvL  13-16;  1  Cor.,  xii.  4-6;  2  Cor.  xiiL  13  ;  Eph.,  a 
18 ;  Rev.,  i.  4,  5. 


228  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III 

ception  thereof :  for  in  that  case  there  would  be  a  direct  con- 
tradiction in  the  terms,  in  which  our  fundamental  belief  con- 
cerning the  divine  existence  is  stated.  The  unity  of  the  Godhead 
is  predicated  of  the  very  being  itself,  of  God — of  his  nature — of 
his  infinite  essence  :  the  Trinity,  on  the  other  hand,  is  predi- 
cated of  the  personality  of  the  divine  nature — of  the  mode,  that 
is,  in  which  the  divine  existence  subsists  and  acts,  as  one  God, 
in  three  persons,  to  wit,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 
Even  though  we  may  not  fully  comprehend  what  is  meant  either 
by  the  essence  of  God,  or  the  persons  of  the  Godhead  ;  yet  we 
can  perfectly  comprehend  that  different  ideas  may  be,  and  are 
expressed  by  these  different  terms  :  and  therefore  that  to  assent 
to  both  propositions  of  God's  being  is  as  comprehensible,  and 
may  be  as  true,  so  far  as  the  propositions  themselves  or  their 
terms  are  concerned — as  to  assent  to  either  of  them  separately, 
is,  or  could  be,  true,  or  comprehensible.  Precisely  as  it  is  true, 
that  even  though  we  may  not  fully  comprehend  what  is  meant  by 
calling  God  a  Spirit — much  less  by  calling  him  an  infinite 
Spirit  ;  yet  it  is  perfectly  comprehensible,  that  a  spiritual  God 
is  widely  different  from  a  physical  one  ;  and  it  is  also  perfectly 
comprehensible,  that  an  infinite  Spirit,  existing  as  a  personal 
God,  is  widely  different  from  an  infinite  spiritual  influence,  ex- 
isting, and  manifesting  itself  in  a  wholly  impersonal  form.  In 
one  of  these  three  statements,  we  have  the  idea  of  God  revealed 
in  the  Scriptures  ;  in  another  we  have  the  atheistical  denial  of 
all  separate  spiritual  existence  ;  and  in  the  third,  we  have  the 
idea  of  God,  in  every  form  of  pantheistical  infidelity.  They  are 
all  three,  not  only  perfectly  intelligible,  but  perfectly  distinct. 

2.  We  are  liable  to  serious  mistakes  in  examining  this  im- 
mense subject,  from  the  peculiar  sense  in  which  the  word  perso7i 
is  used,  when  applied  to  the  Godhead.  When  applied  to  human 
nature  and  human  beings,  by  person,  we  mean  an  individual 
made  up  of  soul  and  body — and  whatever  else  constitutes  a  com- 
plete and  separate  being.  No  matter  how  many  elements,  phys- 
ical, mental,  spiritual,  temporal,  and  eternal  go  to  make  up  the 
individual — when  all  are  united  and  completed,  the  word  person 
expresses  our  idea  of  the  particular  individual  being,  in  which  all 
these  elements  are  united.  Not  so  in  the  application  of  this 
term  to  the  Godhead.  By  speaking  of  three  persons  in  one  God, 
we  necessarily  reject  the  idea  that  either  of  the  three  is  exclu- 


CHAP.  XV.]      MODE    OF    THE    DIVINE    EXISTENCE.         229 

sively  God  ;  just  as  we  necessarily  express  the  idea,  that  each  one 
of  them  is  really  God.  While  in  man  many  things  make  but 
one  person,  in  God  three  persons  subsist  in  one  and  the  same 
Jehovah.  While  in  man  person  is  the  highest  and  most  exclu- 
sive conception  we  have  of  human  nature — in  God  person  is  the 
conception  we  have  of  one  respect  of  the  mode  of  the  divine  ex- 
istence, and  not  of  the  essence  and  totality  of  the  existence  itself. 

3.  We  are  to  remember  also,  that  of  all  parts  of  revealed  re- 
ligion— not  one  is  more  completely  above  our  faculties  and  be- 
yond the  pale  of  our  natural  knowledge,  than  this  concerning 
the  nature  and  mode  of  the  divine  existence.  There  is  absolutely 
nothing,  independently  of  an  immediate  revelation  from  God, 
that  would  ever  have  led  us  so  much  as  even  to  conjecture,  that 
in  the  unity  of  the  divine  nature  there  existed  just  three  divine 
persons.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  doubt  that  if  the  plan  of 
salvation  were  capable  of  being  explained  upon  any  other  hypo- 
thesis, as  applied  to  God's  nature,  or  if  the  multiplied  declara- 
tions of  Scripture  could  possibly  be  understood  in  any  other 
sense  ;  the  human  mind  would  have  utterly  rejected  the  doc- 
trine of  the  true  mode  of  God's  existence  ;  that  is  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  as  received  by  God's  people,  more  or  less  distinctly, 
in  every  age.  Most  assuredly  if  man  had  made  the  Bible,  his 
nature  and  his  whole  history  abundantly  prove  tha-t  we  should 
have  had  a  widely  different  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  the  divine 
existence,  from  that  which  the  Bible  actually  teaches  :  a  proof 
at  once  of  its  divine  origin,  and  of  the  duty  binding  upon  us, 
simply  to  learn  and  accept  what  God  teaches  us  on  this  sublime 
theme. 

V. — 1.  Keeping  strictly  to  the  idea  already  insisted  on,  that 
this  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  immediately  involved  in  the  whole 
scheme  of  God's  interposition  to  save  sinful  men  ;  and  that 
while  the  latter  is  incomprehensible  without  the  former — the 
former  is  most  easily  and  most  clearly  explicable,  by  the  latter  : 
I  proceed  to  gather  up  and  state  in  order  the  remaining  truths 
of  Scripture  immediately  connected  with  it,  in  this  general  aspect 
of  the  subject.  And  as  seven  chapters  have  already  been  devoted 
to  an  elaborate  consideration  directly  of  the  person  and  work  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  the  second  person  of  the  adorable  Trinity — and 
incidentally  of  the  two  remaining  persons  of  the  Godhead  ;  it  will 
be  less  necessary,  in  what  is  now  to  be  advanced,  to  exhibit 


230  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  in. 

minutely  than  to  sum  up  clearly,  the  divine  instruction  on  the 
whole  subject. 

2.  The  name  of  God  both  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scrip- 
tures, is  applied  sometimes,  essentially  and  generally  to  the 
divine  essence  which  is  common  to  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost — and  so,  to  the  whole  Trinity.1  This  use  is  common 
throughout  the  Scriptures.  Sometimes  it  is  specially  and  per- 
sonally applied,  not  to  the  whole  Trinity,  but  to  a  single  person 
thereof,  as  to  the  Father  exclusively  :2  to  the  Son  exclusively  :3 
to  the  Holy  Ghost  exclusively.4  Neither  the  former,  or  essential, 
mode  of  using  the  name  of  God,  nor  the  latter,  or  personal,  mode 
of  using  it,  is  by  itself  and  exclusive  of  the  other  mode  of  any 
avail  for  the  salvation  of  sinners  :  since  as  sinners  we  are  amena- 
ble in  every  form  and  upon  every  ground  ;  and  if  we  are  saved, 
that  must  be  done  for  us  which  involves  and  demands,  the  con- 
currence of  God  in  every  aspect  of  his  glorious  being  and  perfec- 
tions. In  whatever  mode  he  exists  and  acts  towards  us,  he  must 
be  manifested  for  us,  or  we  must  perish.  Here  then  in  the 
supreme  Godhead  of  each  person  of  the  Trinity,  supposing  God 
to  subsist  in  that  manner,  is  laid  the  foundation  of  the  possibility 
that  sinners  may  be  saved  ;  while  the  revelation  of  the  fact  of 
that  mode  of  existence  on  the  part  of  God,  in  connection  with 
the  purpose  -of  God  in  the  salvation  of  sinners — establishes  the 
certainty  of  that  salvation. 

3.  The  Jehovah  of  the  Hebrew,  and  the  I  am*  of  the  Greek, 
are  one  and  the  same  :  the  self-existent.  Through  the  Greek 
language,  the  case  is  easily  and  clearly  stated.  First  the  essence ; 
and  from  that  the  oneness  of  essence — applied  to  the  three  per- 
sons of  the  Trinity.f  The  same  in  substance  ;  equal  in  power 
and  glory.  Each  is  Jehovah,  each  is  I  am — the  self-existent. 
All  are  consubstantial ;  that  is,  the  same  in  essence.  Of  these 
three  persons,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  let  it  be  noted  how- 
ever, that  God  is  tri-une  not  triplex  ;  for  the  idea  of  composition 
is  to  be  wholly  rejected.  Each  one  is  a  divine  person, BJ  subsisting 
in  the  essence§  of  the  self-existent.  ||     Each  one  is  of  the  same 

1  Mat,  iv.  1-10;  John,  iv.  24.  2  Mat,  xvi.  16;  John,  i.  1,  2;  Rom.,  i.  8. 

'  Acts,  xx.  28 ;  1  Tim.,  iii.  1G ;  Titus,  ii.  13.     <  Acts,  v.  4;  2  Cor.,  vi.  16 ;  1  Cor.,  vi.  19 

*  'O  uv,  kcii  6  ijv,  nai  6  ty^o/zeeof,  6  TzavTunpaTup. — Rev.,  i.  5. 

\  'O  uv,  obaia  ojioovaia.    The  self-existent  essence — consubstantial. 

%  3  Heb.,  i.  3  5  'Tnoaraai^.  §  Ovoia.  \  'O  uv. 


CHAP.  XV.]      MODE    OF    THE    DIVINE    EXISTENCE.         231 

substance0  with  the  others;  and  that  substance  is  but  one,  and 
it  self-existent — the  Jehovah. — A  Trinity,  not  numcro  numeranli 
— but  numero  numerate:  three  persons  in  one  essence,  not  three 
persons  of  three  essences,  nor  three  essences  in  one  person,  nor 
yet  the  same  essence  three  times  repeated  ;  but  one  divine 
essence  which  subsists  and  acts  in  three  persons,  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost  ;  and  these  three  are  one.1  That  is,  one  God 
— not  one  person.  The  communionf  of  the  persons  of  the 
Trinity  consists  in  the  oneness  of  substance,  which  is  common 
to  them  all — and  total  in  each  of  them."  They  are  all  consub- 
stantial  to,  and  with  each  other  ;  that  is,  they  are  the  same  in 
their  divine  substance.  Wherefore  each  one  of  them  is  equally, 
by  essence,  God  of  himself.  Each  person  being  equally  God,  is 
equal  as  to  essence,  properties,  essential  operations,  power,  dig- 
nity, glory  and  honor:3  and  the  Scriptures  constantly  predicate 
of  each  all  that  is  essential  of  every  one.  All  the  three  divine 
persons  are  eternally  and  inseparably  united  to,  with,  and 
amongst  each  other  :  and  yet  each  person  has  distinct,  and  in- 
communicable properties  peculiar  to  itself.4  For  the  Son  is  not 
the  Father,  nor  is  the  Holy  Ghost  the  Son  ;  but  they  are  all 
three  distinguished  from  each  other  by  properties  which  distinctly 
mark  each,  and  which  are  incommunicable  and  inseparable. 
That  is,  they  are  as  really  three  persons  by  subsistence,  that  is 
by  their  mode  of  being,  as  they  are  one  God  by  substance  and 
essence.  And  so  deeply  are  all  these  truths  conuected  with  the 
plan  of  salvation,  that  the  denial  of  them,  on  the  side  of  the 
unity  of  the  divine  essence,  is  the  foundation  of  the  fatal  heresy 
of  Arius,  and  the  denial  of  them  on  the  side  of  the  divine  per- 
sonality, is  the  foundation  of  that  of  Sab'ellius. 

4.  There  is  revealed  to  us,  besides  the  general  distinction 
between  the  essence,  or  substance  of  God's  being,  and  the  method 
in  which  that  essence  exists — already  so  often  stated — a  series 
of  distinctions  perfectly  comprehensible,  between  the  divine 
essence  and  the  divine  persons — such  as  those  which  follow. 
1.  The  person  includes  the  essence;  and  besides  includes  the 
idea  of  relation,  as  paternity,  filiation,  procession  :  and  more- 
over, the  essence  must  be  considered  absolutely ;  the  person, 
relatively.     2    The  person  is  incommunicable ;   for  the  Father 

*  'Ofioovaioc.         '  1  John,  v.  7.         f  Koivuvia.         2  John,  x.  30 ;  1  John,  v.  7 

*  PhiL,  ii.  6.  *  John,  i.  1.  x.  38,   xiv.  10,  11,  20. 


232  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

cannot  be  the  Son  ;  and  so  of  the  rest ;  but  the  essence  is  com- 
municable, so  far  as  the  persons  are  concerned — for  all  three  of 
them  partake  of  it.  3.  The  essence  exists  of  itself,  and  has  no 
origin  in  any  sense  whatever  ;  but,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  Son  is 
of  the  Father  ;  and  the  Spirit  is  of  the  Father  and  the  Son.  So 
also  there  are  revealed  to  us  certain  distinctions  amongst  the 
persons  themselves  ;  such  as  the  following.  (1.)  They  differ  in 
name  from  each  other ;  one  being  called  the  Father,  another  the 
Son  or  the  Word,  and  the  third  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  a  distinction 
of  the  greatest  importance  in  understanding  the  plan  of  salva- 
tion.1 (2.)  They  differ  in  their  incommunicable  properties,  which 
are  so  called  to  distinguish  them  from  those  essential  properties 
which  are  common  to  them  all.  Thus  it  is  peculiar  to  the 
Father  that  he  is  unbegotten  ;  and  that  he  begets  the  Son  ;  and 
that  from  him  and  the  Son  proceeds  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is 
peculiar  to  the  Son,  that  he  is  begotten  of  the  Father,  and  that 
from  him  with  the  Father,  proceeds  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  it  is 
peculiar  to  the  Holy  Ghost  that  he  is  not  begotten — nor  yet,  as 
to  his  personality,  of  himself — differing  both  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  but  that  he  emanates,  or  proceeds,  equally  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son.2  (3.)  They  differ  as  to  their  order  of 
existing.  The  Father,  not  only  as  to  his  essence,  but  also  as  to 
his  person,  is  of  and  from  himself.  The  Son  and  the  Spirit,  as 
to  their  essence,  are  also  of,  and  from  themselves  ;  but  as  to 
their  personality,  the  Son  is  of  the  Father,  as  begotten  ;  and  the 
Spirit  is  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  as  emanating,  not  begotten. 
(4.)  So  amongst  the  divine  actions ;  while  some  are  of  that  na- 
ture that  they  are  performed  mutually,  as  between  the  persons 
of  the  Trinity — according  to  the  properties  peculiar  to  each  per- 
son j  others  relate  more  especially  to  the  universe,  and  the  crea- 
tures God  has  formed.  Of  the  former,  necessarily,  and  of  the 
latter,  most  generallj*,  an  order  of  action  distinguishes  the  per- 
sons of  the  Sacred  Trinity,  corresponding  with  their  order  of 
existing:  the  Father  acting  of,  and  from  himself:3  the  Son 
acting  from  the  Father  :4  and  the  Holy  Spirit  acting  from  both.5 
And  on  account  of  this  order  of  existing  and  acting,  the  Father 
is  called  the  first,  the  Son  the  second,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  the 
third  person  of  the  Trinity.     (5.)  And  thus  we  may  not  pass 

Mat.,  xxviii.  19;  1  John,  v.  7.  2  John,  xiv.  1G,  xv.  26. 

'  Mat.,  xl  25-27  ;  John,  xi.  41,  42.      *  John,  v.  19-23.     «  John,  xiv.  26,  xv.  16. 


CHAP.  XV.]      MODE    OF    THE    DIVINE    EXISTENCE.        233 

by  in  silence  the  general  distinction,  that  to  the  Father  is  attrib- 
uted, the  fountain  and  source  of  all  things  :  to  the  Son,  the 
wisdom,  counsel,  and  arrangement  of  all  operations  :  and  to  the 
Spirit,  the  power  and  efficacy,  by  which  every  action  is  accom- 
plished. (6.)  The  person  of  Christ  is  peculiarly  distinguished, 
since  he  is  not  only  to  be  considered  in  all  that  characterizes  him 
as  the  Word,  the  Son,  the  second  person  of  the  adorable  Trinity; 
but  also,  as  the  human  nature  has  been  assumed  by  him  into 
personal,  that  is,  hypostatical,  union  with  the  divine  nature,  of 
which  so  much  has  been  said  in  preceding  chapters.  In  this 
assumption  by  Christ,  the  human  person  is  lost  and  swallowed 
up  in  the  divine  person  of  the  Word,  as  I  have  heretofore  shown  : 
else  there  would  be  four  persons  in  the  Godhead — and  one  of 
them  a  man  ;  which  would  be  impossible  and  absurd.  But  the 
human  nature,  in  the  person  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  remains  per- 
sonally and  eternally  united  to,  not  confounded  with,  the  divine 
nature,  in  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God — whose  nature  and  per- 
son are  both  divine.  But  for  the  divine  personality,  in  the  mode 
of  God's  existence,  plainly  therefore,  the  Son  of  God  never  could 
have  assumed  human  nature  :  and,  but  for  the  essential  divinity 
of  the  Son  of  God,  human  nature  never  could,  have  been  united 
with  the  divine  nature.  Yet  plainly,  again,  but  for  the  existence 
of  God,  as  a  Trinity  of  persons  in  one  divine  essence  ;  what 
Christ  thus  did,  would  have  been  alike  impossible,  whether  con- 
templated on  the  part  of  human  nature,  or  on  the  part  of  the 
Godhead.  So  that  the  mode  of  the  divine  existence,  which  we 
express  in  the  word,  and  signify  by  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
is  the  only  conceivable  mode  of  the  divine  existence  which  is 
compatible  with  the  revealed  method  of  saving  sinners. 

VI. — 1.  These  distinctions  in  the  divine  persons  of  the 
Trinity,  so  far  from  giving  any  pretext  to  the  wickedness  of  those 
who  pretend  that  we  thus  divide  the  Godhead  into  three  parts  ; 
or  the  blasphemies  of  those  who  allege  that  by  this  means  we 
teach  that  there  are,  in  reality,  three  Gods  ;  do  indeed  rather 
place  the  unity  of  the  divine  essence  on  a  clearer  and  firmer 
basis,  than  it  could  otherwise  be  shown  to  occupy.  For  in  this 
manner  we  are  enabled  not  only  to  define  but  also  to  illustrate 
that  infinite  and  indivisible  simplicity  in  which  God  eternally 
and  unchangeably  exists.  For  the  Son,  as  he  has  one  Spirit  with 
the  Father,  must  be  one  God  with  him  :  and  the  Spirit,  as  he 


234  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

proceeds  both  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  must  he  of  the  same 
essence  with  both  of  them.  So  that  although  each  hypostasis 
has  something  peculiar  to  itself,  that  very  peculiarity  is,  by  its 
own  nature,  the  means  of  proving  that  the  whole  divine  nature 
is  in  each  one  :  whereby  Christ  could  truly  say,  I  am  in  the 
Father  and  the  Father  is  in  me.1  Christ,  considered  of  himself, 
is  God  ;  but  considered  with  reference  to  the  Father,  he  is  the 
Son  :  just  as  the  Father,  considered  of  himself,  is  God  ;  but 
considered  with  reference  to  the  Son,  is  the  Father.  And  so  all 
the  distinctions  of  the  persons  of  the  Godhead,  and  all  the  ap- 
pellations which  express  those  distinctions,  while  they  denote 
their  own  reciprocal  relations,  indicate,  at  the  same  time,  the 
unity  of  their  divine  essence,  in  which  there  is  no  distinction 
whatever. 

2.  Inasmuch  as  the  Father  sustains  no  relation  to  the  Son 
or  the  Spirit,  by  which  in  the  order  of  existence,  or  action,  or 
thought,  he  could  be  said  to  be  of  or  from  either  of  them — 'either 
as  begotten  or  as  proceeding  ;  it  naturally  follows  that  when  the 
Son  or  the  Spirit  is  mentioned  together  with  the  Father,  the 
name  of  God,  is  in  that  case,  more  peculiarly  applied  to  the 
Father,  than  to  the  Son  or  the  Spirit.  This  occurs  with  great 
frequency  in  the  Scriptures  ;  thus  keeping  before  the  mind,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  unity  of  the  divine  essence,  and  on  the  other, 
the  order  of  the  divine  persons.  But  when  the  name  of  God  is 
used  generally  and  absolutely  in  the  Scriptures,  and  not  with 
particular  reference  to  the  mode  of  his  existence,  in  three  per- 
sons ;  then  it  is  not  the  Father  that  is  intended,  but  the  single 
and  simple  essence,  comprehending  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost.  Although  the  name  of  God  is  used  many  thousands  of 
times  in  the  Scriptures,  it  is  perhaps  impossible  to  select  a  sin- 
gle instance,  in  which  an  attentive  consideration  of  the  passage, 
and  a  careful  comparison  of  it  with  other  parts,  will  not  satisfy 
the  sober  inquirer  whether  it  is  used  in  that  place  of  God  indefi- 
nitely— meaning  his  essence,  or  of  the  Father,  or  the  Son,  or  the 
Holy  Ghost  :  while,  in  most  instances,  the  use  is  so  obvious  that 
doubt  is  hardly  possible.  When  we  consider  the  great  weakness 
of  our  faculties,  the  small  acquaintance  we  possess  with  our  own 
nature,  and  our  total  natural  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  God  ; 
together  with  the  imperfection  of  all  language  in  the  communi- 

1  John,  siv.  10,  11. 


CIIAP.  XV.J       MODE    OF    THE     DIVINE    EXISTENCE.         235 

cation  of  knowledge,  of  this  sort  ;  it  must  be  allowed  to  be  infi- 
nitely remarkable,  that  the  writers  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, should  have  succeeded  in  a  manner  so  complete,  in 
making  themselves  perfectly  understood  upon  the  most  difficult 
subject  ever  presented  to  the  human  mind.  A  theory  of  the 
divine  existence  which  is  found  nowhere  else,  is  developed,  illus- 
trated, and  applied  all  through  the  Scriptures,  in  such  a  manner 
that,  while  the  intelligence  of  an  angel  could  not  perhaps  go  a 
hair's  breadth  beyond  what  is  taught,  the  intellect  of  a  child  can 
receive  all  that  is  made  known. 

3.  It  is  not  pretended  that  the  understanding  of  man  is  ca- 
pable of  fathoming  all  the  sublime  truths  which  the  Scriptures 
unfold  to  us,  concerning  the  being  of  God  :  nor  all  the  relations 
of  such  parts  thereof,  as  appear  most  simple,  to  each  other,  and 
to  the  whole  subject.  But  it  is  undeniable  that  we  are  as  capa- 
ble of  understanding  one  exhibition  as  another  ;  one  theory  as 
another  ;  one  set  of  tacts  as  another,  upon  a  subject  the  larger 
part  of  which  lies  beyond  the  pale  of  our  researches,  and  in  re- 
gard to  which  therefore,  we  must  be  taught,  if  we  are  taught 
at  all,  in  a  supernatural  manner.  What  is  indispensable  is,  that 
the  proof  should  be  complete  and  conclusive,  that  the  instruction 
one  red  to  us  is  true  and  divine  ;  for  as  to  the  knowledge  itself, 
which  is  imparted  to  us  in  that  manner,  the  only  difference 
touching  it  is  that  the  more  clearly  and  the  more  variously  it  is 
communicated  to  us,  the  more  readily  does  it  impress  itself  upon 
those  who  give  heed  to  the  Divine  Teacher.  Except  in  this 
sense,  we  cannot  say  that  one  part  is  more  comprehensible  than 
another  ;  nor  upon  these  conditions,  is  it  in  the  slightest  degree 
true  to  assert  that  any  part,  intended  to  be  explained  to  us,  is 
incomprehensible.  We  are  not  asked  to  comprehend  the  self- 
existence  of  God  ;  for  we  do  not  comprehend  even  our  own  de- 
pendent existence.  But  we  are  taught  that  God  exists — and 
this  fact  is  not  only  comprehensible,  but  far  more  comprehensible 
than  the  opposite  fact  ;  namely,  that  there  is  no  God  at  all. 
Now  when  to  this  it  is  added  point  by  point,  that  God  who  thus 
exists  is  a  Spirit  ;  that  he  is  an  infinite,  self-existent,  eternal, 
and  unchangeable  Spirit  ;  that  in  the  unity  of  his  immense  and 
almighty  being,  there  subsist  three  hypostases,  which,  from  their 
mutual  relations,  are  called  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  and  that  the  action  of  the  Godhead,  upon  and  within 


236  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

itself — as  well  as  its  action,  in  every  respect,  upon  the  universe 
and  upon  all  creatures,  has  respect  always,  to  this  unity  of  es- 
sence and  Trinity  of  persons  ;  what  I  assert  is,  that  amongst  all 
these  sublime  truths,  one  is  just  as  intelligible  as  another  ;  as 
matter  of  fact,  that  all  are  perfectly  comprehensible  ;  that  each 
one  is  made  more  obvious,  and  not  more  obscure,  by  the  addition 
of  the  others  ;  and  that  when  it  is  at  length  perceived  that  all 
united,  form  a  vast  system  of  knowledge,  the  dependence  of 
whose  parts  is  more  obvious,  the  more  complete  the  system  is  ; 
then,  the  more  credible  and  the  more  perspicuous,  does  the  whole 
and  every  particular  part  become  as  we  advance  to  the  sublime 
conclusion.  Confining  ourselves  strictly  to  the  subject  under 
consideration,  it  may  be  asserted,  that  in  the  whole  round  of  our 
knowledge,  human  and  divine,  there  is  nothing  that  impeaches, 
in  the  slightest  degree  these  great  truths  : — namely,  1.  That 
there  is  a  God,  and  that  there  is  but  one  ;  2.  That  he  is,  as  to 
his  essence,  an  infinite  Spirit  ;  3.  That  the  method  of  his  exist- 
ence is  by  three  hypostases  ;  the  same  in  substance,  equal  in 
power  and  glory.  Nor  is  there  in  these  propositions  any  thing 
either  contradictory  or  incomprehensible  ;  but  on  the  other  hand, 
they  illustrate  and  confirm  each  other.  The  self-existence,  from 
eternity,  of  that  transcendent  being  whom  we  call  God,  is  a 
proposition  which  assuredly  is  not  rendered  either  more  obscure 
or  more  overwhelming  when  it  is  added,  that  he  is  an  infinite 
Spirit.  And  the  further  idea,  thus  obtained,  of  the  majesty  and 
grandeur  of  his  nature,  is  neither  rendered  more  irrational  nor 
more  incredible,  when  we  are  informed,  that  the  mode  of  his 
being  is  such  as  to  give  the  most  complete  scope  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  an  infinite  felicity — in  the  divine  co-existence,  and  eter- 
nal in-being,  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  furnish 
the  most  entire  manifestation  of  all  the  divine  perfections,  by 
means  of  their  joint,  as  well  as  their  mutual  and  their  separate 
action,  within  the  Godhead,  and  without  it  ;  to,  and  upon  all 
creatures.  Whoever  will  ponder  the  subject  will  see,  that 
amongst  the  properties,  attributes  and  perfections,  which  reason 
and  revelation  alike  ascribe  to  God,  there  are  not  a  few,  which 
we  are  fully  able  to  conceive  of,  as  having  their  perfect  scope  and 
exercise  only  upon  the  condition  of  a  distinct  plurality  of  persons 
in  the  divine  nature.  Indeed  this  observation  applies  in  some 
degree  to  most  of  the  moral  perfections  of  God  ;  and  completely 


CHAP.  XV.]       MODE    OF    THE    DIVINE    EXISTENCE.         237 

and  with  the  greatest  emphasis  to  all  the  results  which  arc  rep- 
flowing  from  the  mutual  relatione  of  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Spirit,  in  the  way  of  infinite  glory,  blessedness,  and 
love.  Insomuch  that  the  admission  or  denial  of  God's  existence, 
simply  ;  or  the  admission  or  denial  of  the  unity  and  spirituality 
<>f  his  nature  ;  is  not  more  pregnant  in  determining  all  that  re- 
lates to  the  universe,  and  our  position  in  it,  than  the  admission 
or  denial  of  the  mode  of  God's  existence,  as  that  of  three  persons 
in  one  essence  necessarily  must  be. 

4.  When  we  come  to  apply  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  to 
the  plan  of  salvation  revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  we  see  at  once 
in  that  plan,  the  complete  illustration  of  the  being  of  God  as 
taught  in  that  doctrine  ;  and  the  indisjumsable  necessity  which 
pressed  the  whole  case,  that  the  mode  of  God's  existence  should 
be  distinctly  explained,  touching  a  matter  which  depends  abso- 
lutely upon  it.  The  plan  of  salvation  is  consistent  with  the  idea 
that  God  is  an  infinite  Spirit :  but  if  God  is  not  an  infinite 
Spirit,  the  plan  of  salvation  is  necessarily  and  absolutely  false  in 
all  its  parts.  If  God  is  an  infinite  Spirit,  whose  simple  and  in- 
divisible unity  fills  immensity  and  eternity,  but  the  method  of 
whose  being  is  that  of  three  divine,  consubstantial,  and  co- 
essential  persons,  in  the  one  divine  essence  :  then  again  the  plan 
of  salvation  by  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  fully 
illustrates  that  mode  of  the  divine  existence,  and  perfectly  ac- 
cords with  it :  and  it  not  only  may  be  true,  as  matter  of  theoiy, 
but  it  derives  from  its  intimate  relevancy  to  the  whole  mode  of 
the  divine  existence,  an  overwhelming  confirmation  of  its  posi- 
tive truth.  But  if  there  is  no  adequate  proof  that  God  exists, 
as  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  unity  of  the  divine 
essence  ;  then  there  is  no  certainty  that  sinners  can  be  saved 
upon  a  hypothesis,  which  derives  all  its  efficacy  from  the  assump- 
tion that  God  docs  exist  in  that  manner  ;  but  there  is  a  most 
violent  presumption  that  sinners  cannot  be  saved,  in  a  manner 
peculiar — and  which  is  defective  in  the  evidence  that  its  funda- 
mental proposition  is  true.  But  as  soon  as  this  defect  of  proof 
is  converted  into  positive  proof  of  the  contrary  ;  as  soon  as  it  is 
established  that  God  does  not  exist  in  a  unity  of  essence  and  a 
Trinity  of  persons  ;  then  immediately,  the  theory  of  salvation 
for  sinners,  founded  upon  this  fundamental  deception,  becomes 
not  only  futile,  but  impious.     In  that  case,  we  have  nothing  tc 


238  •  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK   III. 

teach  the  nations,  nor  any  authority  to  baptize  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ; 
and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  vain  and  empty  sounds. 
5.  That  which  is  incomprehensible  to  us  in  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity — which  the  Scriptures  do  not  explain — and  which  no 
similitude  taken  from  any  thing  known  to  us,  adequately  illus- 
trates ;  and  which  therefore  makes  this  doctrine  so  great  a  mys- 
tery, may  be  stated  thus  :  1.  While  we  understand  that  the 
persons  of  the  Trinity  are  distinguished  from  each  other,  and 
while  we  also  understand  the  relations,  terms,  and  acts,  which 
express  and  illustrate  that  distinction  ;  we  do  not  understand 
the  nature  of  that  distinction,  nor  comprehend  precisely  what 
it  is.  2.  While  we  understand  that  as  to  the  essence  of  God,  it 
is  absolutely  one,  and  as  to  his  manner  of  subsisting  and  acting 
it  is  threefold — so  that  he  is  one  God  in  three  persons  ;  and 
while  we  understand  the  terms,  acts,  and  relations,  in  which  the 
distinction  between  the  essence  and  the  personality  of  the  divine 
nature  is  expressed  and  illustrated  ;  we  do  not  understand  the 
nature  of  that  distinction,  nor  comprehend  precisely  what  it  is. 
In  both  cases,  there  is  something  beyond  what  is  revealed  ;  and 
therefore  there  is  that  which  we  do  not  comprehend  ;  there  is  an 
immense  mystery.  But  this  is  no  more  than  must  be  said  of 
some  part  of  every  doctrine  that  relates  directly  to  the  existence 
of  God.  In  searching  for  divine  knowledge  we  gain  nothing  by 
endeavoring  to  fathom  what  God  has  left  in  mystery  ;  while  we 
only  prove  our  sinful  neglect  and  voluntary  ignorance,  by  mak- 
ing a  mystery  of  any  thing  that  God  has  clearly  explained  to  us. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

L  1.  The  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  our  gratuitous  and  divine  salvation. — 2.  Nature, 
and  Person  of  the  Divine  Spirit. — 3.  These  to  be  specially  exhibited  in  his  con- 
nection •with  Christ  and  Salvation. — II.  1.  The  existence  of  Immanuel  a  demon- 
stration that  the  Spirit  is  the  Most  High  God. — 2.  The  whole  work  of  the  Me- 
diator full  of  proofs  of  the  Supreme  Godhead  of  the  Spirit,  in  essence  and  person. 
— 3.  The  Infinite  Fitness,  authority  and  ability  of  the  Mediator,  the  product  of 
the  Infinite  Unction  of  the  Spirit. — 4.  As  the  Inspirer  of  all  Scripture,  he  and  it 
stand  or  fall  together. — 5.  The  conclusive  force  of  the  structure  of  the  Scripture 
upon  the  mode  of  the  Divine  Existence. — III.  Constant  Relation  of  the  Spirit  to 
the  knowledge  of  God. — 1.  Pentecost. — 2.  Under  the  ministry  of  Christ,  the 
Father  is  the  chief  object :  under  the  ministry  of  the  Spirit,  Christ  is  the  chief 
object. — 3.  The  Spirit  is  the  author  as  Christ  is  the  head  of  the  New  Creation. — 
4.  Direct  Scripture  statements  concerning  the  Holy  Ghost. — 5.  The  Spirit  of  Ho- 
liness, of  Truth,  and  of  Life. — IV.  The  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost. — 1.  There  is 
a  sin  which  is  unto  Death. — 2.  It  has  direct  reference  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
through  him  to  Christ. — 3.  Its  peculiar  form  is,  Blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
Ghost. — 4.  The  meaning  of  the  term  Blasphemy,  thus  used ;  (a)  To  rob  the  Spirit 
of  his  glory  and  due,  is  to  Blaspheme  him ;  (b)  To  pretend  to  do  the  office  and 
work  of  the  Spirit,  is  to  Blaspheme  him ;  (c)  These  senses  of  the  term  being  exclu- 
sive— Blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is  defined. — 5.  The  solemnity,  distinct- 
ness, and  practical  importance  of  this  doctrine. — G.  Fundamental  character  of  the 
general  doctrine  of  the  noly  Ghost. 

I. — 1.  The  salvation  for  sinners  revealed  in  the  word  of  God 
is  a  gratuitous  and  a  divine  salvation.  The  wages  of  sin  is 
death  ;  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.1  And  the  conception,  the  preparation,  and  the  appli- 
cation to  man,  of  all  that  whereby  they  escape  the  proper  wages 
of  sin — and  are  made  partakers  of  the  infinite  gift  of  eterruil 
life  is  wholly  divine.  It  is  God  who  bestows  it  all  upon  us  ;  it 
is  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  that  we  receive  it  all  ;  and  in 
order  to  receive  it  we  must  be  born  again — and  that  of  the  Spirit 
of  God."     It  is  not  only  that  God  has  brought  life  and  immor- 

1  Rom.,  vi.  23.  2  John,  i.  12,  13,  iil  5. 


240  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

tality  to  light  by  the  Gospel,  and  that  after  we  had  forfeited  and 
rejected  both,  and  rendered  ourselves  alike  unable  and  unwilling 
to  seek  effectually  for  either  of  them  :  nor  is  it  only  that  Jesus 
Christ  has  accomplished  for  us  at  so  great  a  cost,  all  that  the 
Scriptures  record  concerning  him  :  but  it  is,  that  in  addition  to 
all  that  is  implied  in  both  of  these  statements,  the  divine  Spirit 
executes  an  infinite  agency  in  making  the  work  of  Christ,  and 
the  mercy  of  God  effectual  to  the  ends  which  the  Father  and 
the  Son  have  proposed.  It  is  of  unspeakable  importance  to  us, 
therefore,  to  understand  clearly,  and  to  appreciate  fully,  the 
teachings  of  the  word  of  God  touching  the  person  and  office  and 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  To  sum  them  up  is  the  particular 
object  of  this  chapter. 

2.  It  has  been  heretofore  frequently  shown,  more  or  less  par- 
ticularly— though  in  an  incidental  way,  and  it  was  attempted, 
in  the  immediately  preceding  chapter  to  explain  in  a  formal 
manner,  what  is  the  sum  and  result  of  the  Scripture  doctrine 
touching  the  Holy  Ghost.*  In  the  unity  of  the  divine  essence, 
the  third  of  the  three  persons — the  same  in  substance,  equal  in 
power  and  glory — is  the  Holy  Ghost.  Eternally  proceeding  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son — breathed — and  hence  his  name — neither 
made,  begotten,  nor  created,  but  very  God  and  of  one  substance 
with  the  Father  and  the  Son.  It  is  he,  whereby  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  in  a  special  manner,  reciprocally  dwell  in  each  other — 
and  by  whom  are  effectuated  the  things,  which  proceed  from  the 
Father  through  the  Son.  We  are  now  to  examine  the  doctrine 
touching  the  mystery  of  this  glorious  being  more  in  detail.  And 
we  ought  to  do  it  the  more  carefully  and  soberly — not  only  be- 
cause of  the  immense  importance  and  extreme  difficulty  of  the 
subject  itself ;  but  also  because,  in  all  ages,  the  minds  of  un- 
godly men  have  been,  in  a  manner,  set  in  them  to  disparage,  to 
obscure,  and  to  pervert  this  most  precious  and  fundamental 
truth. 

3.  The  Book  of  Genesis  opens  with  the  declaration,  that  in 
the  beginning,  when  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  the 
Spirit  of  God  brooded  upon  the  face  of  the  creation.1  And  the 
Book  of  Kevelation  closes  with  the  invitation  solemnly  reiterated 
by  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride — that  is  the  Church  and  the  Holy 
Ghost — that  whosoever  will  shall  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely.5 

*  fyn,  Trvevfta,  Spiritus,  the  Spirit.  '  Gen.,  i.  2  a  Rev.,  xxii.  17. 


CHAP.  XVI.]       DOCTRINE    OF    THE    HOLT    GUOST.  241 

And  David  and  Isaiah  both  inform  us,1  that  it  was  the  Spirit  of 
Jehovah,  who  thus  brooded  with  almighty  power,  over  the  work 
of  creation.  And  all  the  Scriptures  arc  full  to  the  point,  that 
the  whole  efficient  agency  of  that  new  creation,  through  which 
we  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  appertains  to  the  same  divine 
Spirit,3  It  belongs  to  him,  therefore,  to  concur,  as  Jehovah,  in 
every  form  of  the  work  of  creation — physical  and  spiritual — orig- 
inal and  redcmptional — of  which  any  knowledge  has  been  im- 
parted to  us  by  God.  But,  in  order  to  contain  what  needs  to  be 
said  within  allowable  limits,  I  will  confine  myself  at  present, 
more  particularly  to  the  relations  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  per- 
son and  work  of  Christ,  and  to  the  life  of  God  in  the  souls  of 
men — while  I  attempt  to  illustrate  Ins  supreme  Godhead  and  his 
divine  personality. 

II. — 1.  It  has  been  abundantly  proved  that  the  doctrine  of 
God  manifest  in  the  flesh — the  Incarnation  of  the  second  person 
of  the  Holy  Trinity — is  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures,  and  that  upon  its  truth  depends  the 
practical  outworking  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation.  But  the  Angel 
Gabriel  said  expressly  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  Holy  Ghost  shall 
come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow 
thee  :  therefore  also  that  holy  thing  which  shall  be  born  of  thee, 
shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God.3  So  that  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  the 
Most  High  God,  who  formed  the  human  nature  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  in  the  womb  of  the  Virgin  Mary  :  and  it  is  because  these 
facts  are  so,  that  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh — that  Jesus  is 
truly  called  the  Son  of  God — and  that  salvation  is  possible  for 
lost  sinners. 

2.  The  whole  life  and  ministry  of  Christ  are  full  of  proofs  of 
the  personal  presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  with  him,  and  therefore 
of  the  divine  personality  of  the  Spirit  :  as  well  as  proofs  of  his 
infinite  possession  of  the  perfections  of  God,  and  therefore  of  his 
complete  participation  of  the  divine  nature.  When  Christ  was 
brought,  as  a  child,  into  the  temple,  Simeon,  upon  whom  "  the 
Holy  Ghost  was,"  and  to  whom  it  was  revealed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  that  he  should  not  see  death,  till  he  had  seen  the  Lord's 
Christ,  led  of  the  Spirit,  took  up  the  child  and  blessed  God  say- 
ing, Mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation.'     The  open  testimony  of 

1  Ps.  xxxiii.  6,  7  ;  Is.,  xl.  12-14.  a  Tit.,  iii.  5,  C ;  John,  xvi.  7,  8. 

*  Luke,  i.  35.  *  Luke,  ii.  25-30. 

16 


242  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III, 

John  the  Baptist  was,  that  Christ's  baptism  of  the  people  should 
be  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire  :  and  when  he  was  him- 
self baptized  of  John,  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  in  a  bodily 
form,  like  a  dove  upon  him,  and  a  voice  came  from  heaven 
which  said,  Thou  art  my  beloved  Son ;  in  thee  I  am  well 
pleased.1  It  is  added  that  Jesus,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
returned  from  Jordan,  and  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilder- 
ness ;  being  forty  days  tempted  of  the  Devil  :  and  then  he  re- 
turned in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  into  Galilee.2  And  at  Naza- 
reth, where  he  had  been  brought  up,  one  Sabbath  day  in  the 
commencement  of  his  ministry ;  when  they  handed  him  the  Book 
of  the  Prophet  Esaias,  he  read  out  of  it  these  sublime  words  : 
The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed 
me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor  ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal 
the  broken  hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and 
recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.  And  then 
under  the  fixed  gaze  of  the  multitude — so  remarkable  as  to  be 
noted  by  the  sacred  record,  he  said,  This  day  is  this  Scripture 
fulfilled  in  your  ears.3  Now  let  it  be  considered,  that  all  these 
occurrences  are  taken  from  a  few  consecutive  pages,  of  a  single 
Gospel,  in  the  first  four  chapters  of  which,  are  no  less  than 
twelve  allusions,  by  name,  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  it  will  readily 
be  seen  how  constant  and  how  immense  is  the  testimony  fur- 
nished in  the  life  and  ministry  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  the  nature 
and  work  of  the  Spirit.  And  it  is  testimony  of  a  kind,  which  is, 
from  its  very  nature,  not  only  decisive,  but  overwhelming.  It  is 
the  testimony  of  one  divine  person,  to  another  :  the  testimony 
of  God  the  Son,  to  the  nature  and  work  of  God  the  Spirit. 
There  is  therefore  nothing  left  for  us,  but  to  accept  the  testi- 
mony, or  to  reject  it  and  Christ  together  :  and  along  with  them, 
the  whole  fabric  of  revealed  religion. 

3.  Besides  the  striking  and  multiplied  testimonies  which  the 
Scriptures  so  carefully  record,  as  having  been  given  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  to  the  person  and  ministry  of  Christ,  and  by  Christ  to 
the  nature  and  work  of  the  Spirit — testimonies,  whose  import 
has  already  been  explained  :  there  are  other  representations  still 
more  remarkable,  in  which  the  infinite  fitness  of  Christ,  as  well 
as  his  authority  and  ability,  are  ascribed  to  the  abounding  ful- 

1  Luke,  iii.  16-22.  2  Luke,  iv.  12,  14.  s  Luke,  iv.  16-21;  Isa.,  bd.  1-3. 


CHAP.  XVI.]      DOCTRINE     OF     THE     HOLY     GHOST.  l243 

-  with  which  he  was  made  partaker  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  John 
the  Baptist  in  assigning  unanswerable  reasons,  why  the  words  of 
Christ  mast  be  the  words  of  God,  contents  himself  with  these 
two,  namely,  that  God  had  sent  him,  and  that  he  had  given  him 
his  Spirit  without  measure.1  Isaiah  speaking  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  in  a  passage  which  Christ  applied  to  himself,  as  we  have 
just  seen,  declares,  that  it  was  because  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
God  was  upon  him,  and  because  of  the  divine  unction  so  received, 
that  he  preached  good  tidings  to  the  meek,  that  he  bound  up  the 
broken  hearted,  that  he  proclaimed  liberty  to  the  captive  ;  and 
indeed  that  he  performed  all  his  glorious  offices,  of  prophet, 
priest,  and  king.2  David  tells  us,  that  this  anointing  of  God,  by 
God,  as  he  expresses  it,  was  an  incomparable  anointing  :3  and 
the  New  Testament  writers  are  constant  in  their  testimonies, 
that  it  was  by  means  of  it,  that  all  fulness  dwelt  in  Christ.'1 
Insomuch  that  Jesus  told  the  Pharisees  that  he  even  cast  out 
devils  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  and  that  therein  lay  the  proof  that 
the  kingdom  of  God  had  come  unto  them.'  Indeed  the  very 
name  of  the  Son  of  God  made  flesh*  is  a  divine  and  perpetual 
testimony,  to  the  divinity  of  the  Spirit,  by  which  the  Saviour  of 
sinners  was  infinitely  replenished  for  every  part  of  his  work,  in  his 
state  of  humiliation.  Nay  the  very  sacrifice  of  himself — and  his 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  were  both  accomplished,  by  Jesus 
Christ,  through  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  it  is  expressly  written, 
that  through  the  eternal  Spirit  he  offered  himself  without  spot 
unto  God  ;  and,  that  he  was  quickened  by  the  Spirit.6  And 
thus  the  blood  of  Christ  which  alone  can  purge  our  consciences 
from  dead  works,  and  the  resurrection  and  exalted  life  of  Christ, 
by  which  alone,  we  can  be  brought  nigh  to  God — both  as  to  the 
fact  of  the  occurrence  of  these  great  mysteries,  and  as  to  our 
participation  in  their  benefits — are  directly  connected  with  the 
supreme  Godhead  of  the  Eternal  Spirit. 

•A.  Our  faith  concerning  the  nature,  person  and  wrork  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  must  be  materially  influenced  by  the  judgment  we 
form  with  regard  to  the  sacred  Scriptures,  considered  in  their 
power,  as  well  as  in  their  truthfulness.  Undeniably,  if  they  are 
worthy  of  credit  at  all,  their  very  nature  makes  the  testimony 

1  John,  iii.  34.      2  Isa.,  lxl  1-3 ;  Luke,  iv.  18.      3  Psalm  xlr.  7.       4  CoL,  i.  19,  ii  9. 
5  Mat.,  xii.  28.         *  tvvcti — X/wcrrof — unctus,  anointed — Christ. 
«  Heb.,  ix.  14;  Eom..  viii.  11 ;  1  Pet.,  iii.  18. 


244  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

they  bear  upon  this,  as  upon  all  other  subjects,  absolutely  con- 
clusive. But  that  is  not  the  view  of  the  subject,  to  which  I  now 
allude.  These  Scriptures  let  thern  contain  what  they  may,  are 
nothing  less  than  a  gross  imposture  ;  or  else  they  are  absolutely, 
and  throughout  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  There  is  no  point 
upon  which  they  are  more  explicit  than  that  all  Scripture  is 
given  by  inspiration  of  God :  and  that  whatever  is  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction  or  for  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness is  contained  therein  ;  insomuch  that  they  are  able  to  make 
us  wise  unto  salvation.1  And  what  is  meant  by  the  Scriptures 
being  given  by  inspiration  of  God  is  clearly  explained  to  us  :  it 
means  that  Holy  Men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.2  Here  then,  in  this  vast  and  mysterious  work 
which  we  call  the  Bible — altogether  the  most  wonderful  monu- 
ment which  distinguishes  and  commemorates  the  existence  of 
our  race  upon  this  earth — we  have  the  Holy  Ghost  set  before  us, 
in  a  maimer,  which  enables  us  to  form  the  very  fairest  judgment 
of  him.  It  is  true,  he  has  used  many  different  men,  through 
many  ceuturies  to  speak  as  he  moved  them.  But  however  that 
may  have  increased  the  difficulty  of  his  work,  he  still  declares 
the  work  to  be  his — to  be  divine,  and  to  be  able  to  make  us  wise 
unto  salvation.  Nothing  can  be  more  direct  or  explicit  than 
this  mode  of  putting  the  question.  Nor  is  there  any  thing 
touching  the  whole  question  of  God  and  our  souls,  that  we  are 
more  competent  to  determine.  As  these  Scriptures  are,  so  is 
the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  the  author  of  them,  and  who,  in  them, 
professes  to  teach  us  with  infinite  certainty  and  Avith  divine 
authority,  what  man  ought  to  believe  concerning  God  and  what 
duty  God  requires  of  man.  Either  way,  the  question  is  settled. 
For  if  the  rule  of  faith  and  duty  is  perfect,  their  testimony  is 
irresistible  in  every  point  of  view  :  if  otherwise  their  author  is  con- 
demned by  his  own  work.  It  is  in  this  manner  that  humble  and 
even  ignorant  Christians,  derive  from  the  simple  study  of  the 
word  of  God,  such  profound  convictions  of  its  divine  truth  and 
authority — by  being  brought  face  to  face  with  the  Eternal  Spirit. 
And  it  is  through  sinful  neglect  of  this  unerring  source  of  spirit- 
ual light  and  life,  that  many  who  consider  themselves  instructed, 
and  even  learned  Christians,  stagger  through  life,  under  a  load 
of  doubts  and  heresies.     They  may  not  in  either  case  have  an- 

1  2  Tim.,  iii.  15,  16.  3  2  Pet,  i.  21. 


CHAP.  XVI.]      DOCTRINE     OF    THE    HOLY     GHOST.  245 

alyzcd  the  cause  of  their  spiritual  condition.  It  is  that  which  I 
have  now  attempted  to  do. 

5.  There  is  no  aspect  of  revealed  religion  in  which  the  na- 
ture of  God  is  more  remarkably  displayed,  both  as  it  relates  to 
his  infinite  Spirituality,  to  the  unity  of  his  essence,  and  to  the 
subsistence  of  that  one  Spiritual  essence,  in  three  persons — co- 
equal and  consubstantial  ;  than  in  the  entire  treatment  of  the 
whole  question  of  the  divine  oracles.  The  Scriptures  are  the 
word  of  God.  But  they  are  also,  in  a  most  peculiar  sense,  the 
word  of  the  Son  of  God — God  the  Word  ;  and  therein,  as  has 
been  shown  in  a  former  chapter,  they  are  specially  appurtenant 
to  Christ  the  Mediator  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  and  with  in- 
tense emphasis  to  his  office  as  Prophet — 'the  Great  Teacher. 
But  again,  it  is  the  divine  Spirit  by  whom  all  Scripture  is  given  : 
he  is  the  Inspirer — he  the  Ptevealer.  representations  to  the 
effect  of  each  of  these  statements,  are  beyond  computation 
throughout  the  sacred  Scriptures  :  nor  is  it  possible  to  compre- 
hend the  scope  of  these  Scriptures,  nor  to  interpret  a  single 
capital  passage  of  them,  nor  to  understand  one  fundamental 
doctrine  touching  our  salvation  stated  in  them,  without  making 
account  of  statements  involving  all  these  relations  of  the  God- 
head to  the  written  word.  Nor  do  the  Scriptures  themselves 
manifest  the  slightest  consciousness,  that  there  is  any  thing  in- 
volved in  such  statements,  which  can  perplex  the  believer,  or 
which  requires  a  separate  divine  explanation.  Whether  the  ut- 
terance is  in  the  name  of  God,  absolutely  considered  ;  or  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  or  of  the  Son,  or  of  the  Holy  Ghost  sepa- 
rately ;  or  in  the  names  of  all  three  unitedly  :  still  it  is  a  di- 
vine utterance,  and  every  renewed  heart  will  so  recognize  and 
receive  it,  and  every  awakened  soul  will  more  or  less  apprehend 
it,  as  be  is  more  or  less  aroused  from  the  torpor  of  sin.  The  use 
of  this  exposition  here,  is  to  point  out  the  remarkable  evidence 
thus  afforded  of  the  nature  of  the  divine  existence,  in  the  very 
structure  of  the  Scriptures,  and  in  the  fundamental  relations  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  person  and  work  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  his 
office  as  the  great  Teacher  of  all  truth  unto  salvation  ;  and  therein 
to  set  before  us,  in  its  elemental  form,  the  mystery  of  the  Spirit 
as  one  of  the  persons  of  the  Godhead,  and  of  the  substance 
thereof,  in  his  perpetual  relation  to  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

III. —The  Spirit  of  God  was  always  known,  wherever  any 


240  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

true  knowledge  of  God  existed  ;  and  he  was  always  that  person 
of  the  Trinity,  by  which  God  dwelt  in  the  souls  of  men,  and  ef- 
fectually communicated  with  them.  But  the  testimonies  of  his 
presence  and  power  were  greatly  multiplied  during  the  life  and 
ministry  of  Christ.  And  the  crucifixion,  and  subsequent  resur- 
rection and  ascension  of  the  Kedeemer,  were  made  occasions  for 
additional  revelations  concerning  him  ;  and  for  new  and  glorious 
exhibitions  of  his  relations  to  the  Father  and  to  the  Son,  and  to 
the  whole  work  of  man's  redemption  ;  as  well  as  for  elucidating 
more  perfectly,  many  things  that  had  been  revealed  to  the 
fathers,  but  not  understood,  or  not  heeded  by  men. 

1.  After  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  in  his  last  interview 
with  his  Apostles  before  his  ascension  into  heaven,  he  commanded 
them  that  they  should  not  depart  from  Jerusalem,  but  wait  for 
the  promise  of  the  Father,  which,  said  he,  ye  have  heard  of 
me.  For  John  truly  baptized  with  water  ;  but  ye  shall  be  bap- 
tized with  the  Holy  Ghost,  not  many  days  hence.1  These  com- 
mandments, we  are  expressly  told,  were  given  by  Christ  to  his 
Apostles,  "  through  the  Holy  Ghost/"  And  it  will  be  observed 
that  they  are  capable  of  being  comprehended,  or  executed,  only 
upon  the  condition,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  true,  and 
that  it  is  well  understood.  For  here  is  Christ,  the  second  per- 
son of  the  Trinity,  who  was  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with 
power,  in  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  giving  commandment 
concerning  a  remarkable  promise  of  the  Father — the  first  person 
— to  be  speedily  executed  through  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  third 
person.  And  upon  the  fulfilment  of  this  promise,  which  was 
nothing  less  than  the  baptism  of  the  Apostles  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
it  is  openly  stated  by  Christ  before  his  ascension,  must  depend 
the  very  commencement,  and  therefore  the  very  existence,  and 
indeed  the  very  possibility  of  the  mission  and  work  of  the  Apos- 
tles themselves.  The  Apostles,  anxious  and,  even  yet,  knowing 
but  imperfectly  their  own  vocation,  asked  him,  Lord,  wilt  thou 
at  this  time  restore  again  the  kingdom  to  Israel  ?3  His  answer 
was  most  remarkable.  Paraphrased  it  would  run  thus  :  That 
of  which  you  inquire,  is  reserved  exclusively  to  the  Father,  and 
the  knowledge  of  it  and  of  its  times  and  seasons,  is  not  for  you : 
Your  mission  is  to  be  witnesses  for  me,  and  you  will  be  qualified 
and  anointed  for  it  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  will  come  upon  you: 

1  Acts,  i.  4,  5.  2  Acts,  i.  2.  3  Acts,  i.  6. 


CHAP.  XVI.]       DOCTRINE     OF     THE     HOLY     GHOST.  247 

and  this,  and  not  the  restoration  of  the  kingdom  to  Israel,  is 
the  promise  of  the  Father  to  which  I  allude.  And  these  were 
his  last  words  to  them.1  When  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  fully 
come,  the  great  promise  of  the  Father  was  fulfilled  :  the  Apos- 
tles were  all  rilled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  all  of  them  began 
to  speak  with  other  tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance." 
Then  they  comprehended  all.  And  Peter  stood  up,  and  speak- 
ing to  the  multitude,  said,  This  is  that  which  was  spoken  by  the 
prophet  Joel.3  And  then  he  quoted  and  applied  a  prophecy  ut- 
tered eight  centuries  before  :  and  showed  that  the  time  for 
the  pouring  out  of  God's  Spirit  on  all  flesh,  and  for  the  doing  of 
all  wonders,  and  for  the  free  offer  of  salvation  to  all  men,  had 
fully  come.  The  great  promise  of  the  Father  was  fulfilled.  The 
Holy  Ghost  has  come  upon  them  :  and  so,  on  the  one  hand,  he 
attests  that  Christ's  work  is  accepted  of  God,  and  that  he  is  the 
witness  that  the  Son  is  glorified,  and  that  he  has  been  himself 
sent  by  the  Father  and  the  Son  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  he 
baptizes  the  Apostles,  of  himself,  for  their  glorious  witness- 
bearing,  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  :  and  then,  initiating  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  with  power — the  dispensation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost — he  converted  three  thousand  souls  the  same  day  V 
Looking  at  this  whole  matter  of  the  promise  of  the  Father,  the 
glorification  of  the  Son,  and  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost  :  considering  the  manner  in  which  the 
whole  transaction  stands  related  to  the  Jewish  dispensation, 
which  it  closed — to  the  New  Testament  Church  which  it  ini- 
tiated with  power — and  to  the  whole  economy  of  salvation — and 
the  whole  nature  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  Scriptures  :  I  con- 
fess myself  unable  to  imagine  any  thing  short  of  judicial  blind- 
ness, that  can  lead  a  student  of  the  Scriptures  to  deny  that 
they  teach  the  divine  personality,  and  the  supreme  divinity  of 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

2.  There  is  another  aspect  of  this  intimate  relation  of  the 
Spirit  to  the  Father  and  the  Son — another  proof  of  the  unity 
of  purpose  and  operation  in  the  Godhead,  working  out  the  salva- 
tion of  sinners — which  seems  to  me  to  be  not  less  convincing  than 
the  one  just  explained,  and  not  less  conclusive  as  to  the  nature 
and  office  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  all  the  work  of  Christ  there 
is  a  constant  reference,  by  him,  to  the  Father  ;  and  while  ho 

1  Acts,  L  3-11.  3  Acts,  ii.  1-4.  3  Acts,  ii.  14-21.  *  Acts,  ii.  41. 


248  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

never  hesitated  to  declare  absolutely  that  he  and  the  Father  are 
one  ;  and  while  he  constantly  manifested  that  his  natural  form 
was  that  of  God,  and  that  he  thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal 
with  God  :  yet,  on  the  other  hand  his  allusions  were  continually 
to  him  who  sent  him — to  him  from  whom  he  received  his  doc- 
trine— to  him  whose  will  he  regarded  more  than  his  own — to 
him  whose  work  he  came  to  do,  and  which  it  behooved  him,  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  to  be  about.  This  double  aspect  of  the 
character  of  Christ,  is  like  the  double  aspect  of  the  prophecies 
that  relate  to  him.  Both  of  them  are,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
surest  proof  of  the  truth,  to  them  who  seek  it  in  sincerity — since 
a  Messiah  to  suffer  and  a  Messiah  to  triumph,  are  both  alike 
predicted  ; — and  Christ  who  was  divine,  and  Christ  who  was  hu- 
man, did  actually  come  :  but,  on  the  other  hand,  both  are  a 
terrible  rock  of  offence  and  stumbling,  to  those  who  will  see  no 
Messiah  in  the  prophecies,  except  one  who  shall  suffer  only  or 
reign  only,  and  no  Christ  in  the  gospel,  except  one  who  is  hu- 
man only,  or  divine  only.  The  real  Christ  of  the  gospel  wrought 
out  the  salvation  for  man,  which  sprang  from  the  eternal  love  of 
God  the  Father  :  and  therefore,  at  every  step,  the  relation  of 
Christ  to  the  Father,  and  of  the  Father  to  salvation  through 
Christ — is  exhibited  to  us.  Now  when  the  work  is  clone  and 
Christ  is  glorified,  there  arises  a  new  condition  of  things,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  which  the  purpose  of  the  Father,  and  the  work  of 
Christ  are  to  be  effectually  applied  :  and  there  occurs  an  agency 
of  the  Spirit  more  glorious  than  had  ever  before  been  exhibited  in 
accomplishing  this  great  salvation.  And  the  point,  to  which 
attention  is  here  immediately  directed,  is,  how  Christ  becomes, 
under  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  the  capital  object — just  as 
the  Father  had  been  the  capital  object,  during  the  personal 
ministry  of  Christ :  how  the  Spirit,  in  giving  efficacy  to  the  work 
of  Christ,  has  incessant  reference  to  Christ,  just  as  Christ,  in 
executing  the  work  of  the  Father,  had  incessant  reference  to 
him  :  and  how  this  great  analogy  and  proportion  of  faith,  and 
this  glorious  working  of  all  the  persons  of  the  Trinity — opens  to 
us,  at  the  same  time,  the  economy  of  salvation,  and  the  infinite 
being  of  God.  The  first  of  the  incontrovertible  truths  of  the 
mystery  of  godliness,  says  Paul,  is,  that  God  was  manifest  in  the 
flesh  :  Ihe  second  is,  that  he  is  justified  in  the  Spirit.1     So  that 

1  1  Tim.,  iii.  16. 


CHAP.  XVI.]       DOCTRINE     OF     THE     HOLY     GHOST.  249 

there  is  no  office,  nor  any  work,  nor  any  exercise  of  the  Spirit  in 
the  matter  of  our  salvation,  that  is  without  reference  to  what 
Christ  is  and  does  ;  nor  is  there,  in  all  that  relates  to  the  Son 
of  God  as  he  is  the  Pcdecmer  of  men,  any  thing  whatever,  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  does  not  accept  as  perfect,  and  use  to  the  glory 
of  God,  with  that  power  and  demonstration  which  appertain  tti 
him.  Of  him,  that  came  by  water  and  blood,  even  Jesus  Christ 
■ — there  are  three  that  bear  witness  on  earth,  namely  the  Spirit 
and  the  water  and  the  blood,  and  they  agree  in  one  :  and  there 
are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,  namely  the  Father,  the 
Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  they  are  one.1  And  by  all  this 
boundless  testimony,  Christ  himself  has  told  us,  the  Holy  Ghost 
will  glorify  him.  For  he  will  convince  the  world  of  sin,  because 
they  have  not  believed  in  Jesus  ;  of  righteousness,  because  he  is 
gone  to  the  Father,  and  we  see  him  no  more  ;  of  judgment, 
because  the  Prince  of  this  world  is  judged.  And  as  all  things 
that  the  Father  hath  are  Christ's  ;  and  it  is  the  office  of  the 
Spirit,  to  take  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  show  them  unto  us  : 
he  that  is  the  Spirit  of  truth  will  guide  us  into  all  truth.2  And 
so,  by  him,  in  a  work  of  infinite  light  and  power,  Christ  Jesus 
is  of  God,  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sancti- 
fication,  and  redemption.3 

3.  But  there  is  somewhat  more,  and  if  possible  still  more  in- 
timate in  the  relation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  the  person,  the  work, 
and  the  glory  of  Christ — and  therein  on  the  one  side,  to  the  God- 
head, and  on  the  other,  to  the  souls  of  men.  I  have  just  ex- 
plained how  every  thing  is  accomplished,  under  the  dispensation 
of  the  Spirit,  in  the  name  and  on  account  of  Christ,  and  so  as  to 
justify  and  to  glorify  him  :  and  I  have  previously  shown  how  all 
is  effected  by  the  Holy  Ghost  himself,  beginning  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  when  the  great  promise  of  the  Father,  concerning  the 
last  days,  began  to  be  fulfilled.  What  I  now  allude  to  is,  that 
over  and  above  all  that  is  involved  in  all  this,  the  Holy  Ghost 
has  been  put  in  actual  possession,  administration  and  dominion 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  this  world — so  that  he  is  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  his  vicar  therein.4  To  this  he  has  been  appointed 
by  a  joint  act  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  :  and  his  dominion  and 
authority  will  continue  until  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  return  the  sec- 

1  1  John,  v.  C-8.  2  John,  xvi.  7-15.  3  1  Cor.,  L  30. 

4  Isa.,  xlviii.  1G ;  Acts,  x.  18-20,  xiii.  2-4,  xvi.  6. 


250  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  Hi. 

ond  time,  without  sin  unto  salvation.  The  divine  Redeemer 
came  into  the  world  to  offer  himself  up  a  sacrifice  for  sin  :  and 
as  the  time  drew  near  he  more  and  more  revealed  to  his  followers 
his  impending  death,  with  the  manner  and  the  fruits  of  it.  At 
length  he  said  to  them  plainly,  Now  I  go  my  way  to  him  that 
sent  me  :'  and  then  added,  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go 
away  :  for  if  I  go  not  away  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto 
you :  but  if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him  unto  you.2  The  Com- 
forter he  had  before  expressly  told  them,  proceeded  from  the 
Father  :3  that  he  was  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  would 
send  in  Christ's  name  :4  and  that  this  act  of  the  Father  was  not 
only  with  the  Son's  consent,  but  at  his  request,  and  performed 
for  the  reason  that  the  Comforter  might  abide  with  us  forever." 
He  is  the  Spirit  of  truth  to  dwell  in  us  and  to  be  with  us  ;6  the 
teacher  of  all  things,  and  the  remembrancer  of  all  things,  uttered 
by  Christ  :7  the  reprover  and  convincer  of  the  world  :e  the  sole 
guide  of  men  into  all  truth,  and  the  only  revealer  of  things  to 
come  :fl  the  glorifier  of  Jesus,  and  the  true  discloser  of  all  that  re- 
lates to  him.10  Now  all  this  mass  of  testimony  is  found  in  a  few 
sentences  uttered  by  Christ,  and  recorded  in  one  of  the  Gospels. 
I  rest  on  it,  merely  as  consulting  a  proper  brevity  ;  for  the  Scrip- 
tures are  full  of  statements  of  the  same  import.  When  we  com- 
pare it  with  Christ's  commands  to  his  Apostles  just  before  his 
ascent  into  heaven — concerning  the  Father's  promise  to  pour  out 
the  Spirit  :  and  with  what  actually  occurred  on  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost :  and  with  the  miraculous  administration  of  the  Spirit 
during  the  entire  period  from  the  day  of  Pentecost,  to  the  clos- 
ing of  the  canon  of  Scripture  :  and  with  the  gracious  adminis- 
tration of  the  same  Spirit  from  that  day  to  this — so  far  as  history 
has  informed  us,  or  we  have  been  personally  witnesses  of  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  amongst  men  :  it  is  utterly  impossible 
to  evade  the  conclusion  that  the  words  of  Christ  were  spoken 
with  a  divine  foreknowledge — that  they  have  been  executed  with 
infinite  certainty  and  exactness — and  that  they  have  been  at- 
tended with  an  almighty  power.  I  pass  by  many  questions 
naturally  springing  up  in  the  track  of  these  vast  ideas  ;  as  my 
object  is  merely  to  illustrate  one  fundamental  doctrine — the  doc* 

1  John,  xvi.  5.      *  Ver.  7.        *  John,  xiv.  26.    <  John,  xiv.  26. 
6  John,  xiv.  16.      6  John,  xiv.  17.   7  Ver.  26.       s  John,  xvi.  8. 
9  Ver.  13.         10  Ver.  15. 


CHAP.  XVI.]      DOCTRINE     OF     THE     HOLY     GHOST.  251 

trine  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  it  seems  to  me  that  the  consider- 
ations thrown  together  in  this  paragraph,  leave  us  no  alternative 
but  to  accept  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  nature,  and  true  person- 
ality of  the  Spirit,  in  the  sense  of  one  God,  in  three  persons,  of 
which  he  is  one  ;  and  to  accept  along  with  this,  the  plan  of  sal- 
vation as  absolutely  dependent  upon  that  conception  of  the 
divine  existence  :  or  else,  to  reject  the  Scriptures  utterly,  and 
grope  through  darkness  and  sin — with  Atheism  or  Superstition 
as  our  only  refuge  against  despair. 

4.  It  may  be  proper,  in  a  few  words,  to  gather  out  of  the 
thousands  of  references  of  the  Scriptures  to  the  Spirit,  some  of 
the  more  obvious,  in  order  that  in  this  manner,  as  well  as  by 
such  exhibitions  as  I  have  already  made,  we  may  the  more  clearly 
perceive  and  the  more  intelligently  accept,  the  truth  revealed  to 
us  on  a  subject  so  momentous.  I  therefore  observe,  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  must  necessarily  be  a  divine  person,  like  the  Father 
and  the  Son  ;  and  as  to  his  essence  must  be  along  with  them, 
one  and  the  only  true  God  :  Because,  1.  he  is  frequently  and 
expressly  called  God  in  the  Scriptures.1  2.  Because  he  is  eter- 
nal, immense,  omnipotent  and  omniscient.2  3.  Because  he  is 
the  Creator  and  preserver  of  all  creatures  and  all  things.3  4.  Be- 
cause he  dwells  in  the  hearts  of  believers,  as  in  a  temple,  which 
is  declared  to  be  proper  only  to  the  true  God.1  5.  Because  we 
are  baptized  in  his  name,  as  well  as  in  those  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son.5  G.  Because  we  are  required  to  believe  in  him,  equally, 
as  in  the  Father  and  the  Son.6  7.  Because  he  is  the  author  of 
all  that  is  spiritually  good,  and  is  to  be  invoked  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  Father  and  the  Son.7  8.  Because  it  is  declared 
that  no  one  is  good  but  God,  and  yet  the  Spirit  is  declared  to  be 
good.8  9.  Because  it  is  revealed  that  God  alone  can  justify  us, 
and  yet  it  is  revealed  that  the  Spirit  justifies  us.9  10.  Because 
God  is  said  to  be  the  author  of  all  consolation,  and  yet  the  Spirit 

'  2  Sam.,  xxiii.,  2,  3 ;  Isa.,  v.  8,  9 ;  Acts,  xxviii.  25,  2G ;  Luke,  i.  68-70 ;  2  Pet,  i.  21 ; 
Acts,  v.  4;   1  Cor.,  iii.  16,  17,  vi.  19 ;  2  Cor.,  vi.  16,  xii.  4-6. 

2  Gen.,  i.  2;  Psalm  exxxix.  7  ;  John,  xvi.  13;  1  Cor.,  ii.  10. 

3  Gen.,  i.  2  ;  Job,  xvi.  13,  xxxiii.  3 ;  Psalm  xxxiii.  6. 

4  Pom.,  viii.  9-11 ;  1  Cor.,  iii.  1G,  vi.  19;   2  Cor.,  vi.  16;  Levit,  xxvi.  12. 

6  M*t,  xxviii.  19;  Mark,  xvi.  15.  6  2  Cor.,  xiii.  14;  Mat.,  xxviii.  19, 

1  1  Cor.,  xxii.  14 ;  Rev.,  i.  4. 

8  Mat.,  xix.  17  ;  Mark,  x.  IS ;  Luke,  xviii.  19  •  Psalm  cxliii.  10. 

0  Eom.,  iv.  5;  1  Cor.,  vi.  11. 


252  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

is  called  expressly  the  Comforter.1  11.  Because  while  it  is 
taught  that  God  alone  can  teach  men  inwardly — it  is  also  taught 
that  the  Spirit  is  the  great  inward  teacher  of  men.2  12.  Because 
although  it  is  declared  that  we  are  made  free  only  by  the  work 
of  God,  it  is  still  declared  that  the  Spirit  sets  us  free.3  13.  Be- 
cause while  all  wisdom  and  power  of  utterance  and  gifts  of  tongues 
are  said  to  be  conferred  by  God  alone,  yet  the  Spirit  is  said  to 
confer  them  all.4  14.  .Because  the  leading  of  the  ancient  people 
of  God  out  of  Egypt  is  declared  to  be  the  work  of  God,  and  yet 
it  is  ascribed  to  the  Spirit.5  15.  Because  the  rebellion  of  Israel 
which  is  pronounced  to  have  been  against  the  true  and  eternal 
God,  is  pronounced  to  have  been  against  the  Holy  Ghost.6  16.  Be- 
cause the  divine  command  that  we  shall  not  tempt  the  Holy 
Ghost,  is  precisely  similar  to  the  divine  command  that  we  shall 
not  tempt  God.7  17.  Because  while  we  are  commanded  to  walk 
exclusively  in  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  hear  only  his  words, 
we  are  commanded  in  like  manner,  to  hear  and  obey  the  words 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.6  18.  Because  those  commands  and  instruc- 
tions which  are  repeatedly  ascribed  to  the  true  God,  are  also 
repeatedly  ascribed  to  the  Holy  Spirit.9  And  so  we  might  go 
on  through  forms,  and  statements,  and  exhibitions,  well  nigh 
innumerable,  and  embracing,  first  and  last,  every  salient  jjoint  of 
divine  revelation.  Upon  the  supposition  of  such  a  mode  of  the 
divine  existence  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  necessarily  im- 
plies ;  and  upon  the  further  supposition  of  an  attempt  on  the 
part  of  God  existing  in  that  manner,  to  save  such  sinners  as  we 
are  :  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that  a  complete  revelation,  such  as 
the  Bible  purports  to  be,  of  the  method  of  that  proposed  salva- 
tion— must  present  in  a  great  multitude  of  ways  and  on  an  im- 
mense variety  of  occasions — the  actual  nature  of  the  Godhead, 
and  the  various  relations  of  the  persons  of  the  Trinity  to  each 
other,  to  us,  and  to  the  work  of  redemption  :  and  that  all  these 
presentations,  without  exception,  must  accord  with  the  absolute 

1  Rom.,  xv.  5:  1  Cor.,  i.  3;  John,  xiv.  16,  xvi.  26. 

2  Isa.,  liv.  13 ;  Joha,  vi.  45 ;  Luke,  xii.  12 ;  Horn.,  viii.  2G.  3  1  Cor.,  iii.  17. 
4  Exod.,  iv.  11 ;  James,  i.  5,  17;  Mat.,  x.  19,  20;  Luke,  xii.  14,  15  ;  Acts,  ii.  14; 

1  Cor.,  ii.  13,  xii.  8.  '  Isa.,  lxiii.  12-14. 

6  Psalm  lxxviii.  40;   Isa.,  lxiii.  10.  7  Deut,  vi.  1G  ;  Mat,  iv.  7 ;  Acts,  v.  9. 

8  Ezck.,  xx.  IS,  19;  Luke,  xi.  28;  Rev.,  ii.  7,  17,  29. 

s  Levit.,  xxvi.  12,  13;    Psalm  xcv.  7,  8;    Isa.,  vi.  7,  9;    Acts,  xxviil  25,  26; 
1  Cor.,  iii.  G,  vL  19;  2  Cor.,  vi.  16;  Heb.,  iii.  7-9. 


OHAP.  XVI.]      DOCTRINE     OF     THE     HOLY     O II 0  S  T .  253 

reality  of  God's  being  and  purpose  and  work.  The  absurdity  of 
supposing  that  God  could  thus  speak  to  us  continually,  of  him- 
self, and  of  us,  and  of  all  the  relations  between  him  and  us,  and 
not  involve  in  these  utterances  any  clear  knowledge  of  his  own 
being,  is  one  of  those  imbecile  fancies  of  heresy,  near  akin  to  that 
most  puerile  atheistical  conceit,  that  an  infinite  God  can  act 
with  infinite  force  continually  throughout  a  boundless  universe, 
and  before  the  faces  of  intelligent  beings,  and  they,  nevertheless, 
shall  see  no  rational  or  credible  manifestation  of  his  existence. 
What  blinds  us  in  both  cases,  is  voluntary  iguorance  and  abom- 
inable wickedness. 

5.  Amongst  these  multiplied  exhibitions  of  the  nature,  office, 
and  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  revealed  in  the  Scriptures, 
there  is  a  distinct  view  of  his  immediate  relations  to  us;  which 
places  the  whole  subject  in  an  extremely  clear  light.  He  is 
called  the  Holy  Spirit — the  Holy  Ghost — most  commonly, 
throughout  the  Scriptures.  A  most  holy  and  pure  Spirit,  and 
the  fountain,  cause,  and  author  of  all  holiness  and  purity  in 
us.  He  is  called  also  the  Spirit  of  Truth — as  we  have  seen 
abundantly.1  The  inspirer  of  all  divine  truth  ;  the  true  author 
of  all  that  all  holy  men  of  God  have  spoken,  when  moved  by 
him  ;  and  our  only  effectual  and  inward  teacher  in  the  true 
knowledge  of  God.  He  is  also  called  the  Spirit  of  Life  :  and 
the  Scriptures  expressly  state  that  it  is  not  only  he  who  will 
cpaicken  our  mortal  bodies,  but  that  it  is  he  who  sets  us  free 
from  the  power  of  sin  and  death.5  For  as  they  clearly  teach  us, 
we  are  renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  God  hath  shed  on  us 
abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  :3  and  nothing 
concerning  the  kingdom  of  God  is  more  certain,  than  that  no 
man  can  enter  it  except  he  be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit.4 
As  for  us,  we  have  lost  the  image  of  God  in  which  we  were 
created,  and  we  must  recover  it  or  perish  forever.  We  must 
be  born  again,  is  the  doctrine  so  pressed  by  Christ  on  Nicode- 
mus  :5  and  this  is  it.  We  are  his  workmanship,  created  in 
Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works."  Our  new  man  is  created  in 
righteousness  and  true  holiness,  after  God.7  It  is  renewed  in 
knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him.8  The  Spirit 
of  life  quickens  us  :  and  we  are  renewed  in  the  image  of  him 

1  John,  xiv.  17,  xv.  26,  xvi.  13.  a  Rom.,  viii.  2,  12.  8  Tit.,  L  4-6.  *  John,  iii.  5. 
«  John,  Hi. passim.  6  Eph..  ii.  10.  »  Eph.,  iv.  24.     8  Col.,  iii.  10. 


254  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

that  created  us.  The  Spirit  of  truth  shows  us  the  things  of 
Christ,  and  leads  us  into  all  truth  :  and  we  are  renewed  in 
knowledge.  The  Holy  Spirit  works  in  us  a  real  righteousness 
and  a  true  holiness  :  and  being  his  workmanship,  created  in 
Christ  Jesus,  unto  good  works,  we  are  led  on,  by  him,  from  one 
degree  of  grace  and  strength  unto  another,  until  we  appear  before 
God,  perfect  in  Zion.1  He  gives  us  a  true,  a  new,  and  an  im- 
mortal life  :  a  life  not  such  as  that  inherited  from  the  first 
Adam,  who  was  a  living  soul,  but  such  as  that  derived  from  the 
Second  Adam,  who  was  a  quickening  Spirit.2  But  this  new 
creation,  though  as  real  as  the  first,  is  widely  different  from  it. 
That  was  an  original  and  primary  creation — the  dust  of  the 
earth  became  man  :  and  God  did  it  by  the  word  of  his  power. 
This  is  a  regeneration  of  an  actual  and  existing  man- — fallen  and 
depraved — but  rational  and  accountable — into  an  heir  of  God 
and  a  joint  heir  with  Jesus  Christ  ;  a  new  man,  and  yet  the 
same  ;  and  this  creation  is  by  the  word  of  grace,  and  through 
the  Spirit  of  truth  as  well  as  the  Spirit  of  life.  And  this  whole 
new  life,  and  this  divine  truth,  upon  which  the  new  life  is  nour- 
ished, by  the  Spirit  of  God,  is  unto  righteousness  and  true  holi- 
ness ;  and  so  it  is  the  Holy  Ghost  that  doth  it  all.  Without 
entering  further  into  these  topics,  than  is  barely  necessary  to 
elucidate  the  point  immediately  under  discussion — I  may  be 
permitted  to  say  that  there  is  something  infinitely  remarkable  in 
this  wonderful  fitting,  not  only  of  the  nature,  and  office,  and 
work,  but  even  of  the  very  appellations  of  the  Eternal  Spirit,  to 
all  the  phases  and  necessities  of  the  glorious  mission  he  accom- 
plishes, and,  to  all  the  wants  of  the  fallen  being  he  restores  to 
God — and  to  all  the  infinite  blessings  and  benefits  given  to  him 
when  he  has  been  reclaimed.  It  is  indeed  these  simple  yet  pro- 
found and  powerful  outworkings  of  Scripture  truth,  which  in- 
vest our  present  inquiries  with  a  true  spirituality,  and  tend  to 
make  us  better  men,  as  we  strive  to  become  better  Theologians. 
IV.  There  remains  one  very  remarkable  aspect  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  so  distinctly  insisted  on  in  the 
Scriptures,  that  it  cannot  be  passed  over  in  silence  ;  and  yet, 
concerning  which  there  is  so  much  difference  of  opinion,  and,  in 
general,  such  great  obscurity  in  the  minds  of  Christian  people 
— that  it  must  be  considered  becoming  in  each  individual  teacher 

1  Ps.  lxxxiv.  1.  2  1  Cor.,  sv.  45. 


CHAI\  XVI.]      DOCTRINE    OF    THE     HOLY    GHOST.  255 

:o  speak  with  much  diffidence  about  it.  I  allude  to  what  is 
commonly  called  the  unpardonable  sin  ;  about  which  I  proceed 
to  sum  up  briefly,  the  teaching  of  the  word  of  God. 

1.  Whatever  may  be  the  particular  nature  of  this  sin,  it  is  per- 
fectly clear  that  there  is,  as  the  Apostle  John  expresses  it,  a  sin 
unto  death  ;  which,  he  adds,  I  do  not  say  that  he  shall  pray  for 
it.1  And  the  Apostle  Paul  teaching  the  same  fearful  truth, 
with  the  greatest  solemnity  ;  warns  us  in  one  emphatic  passage, 
that  there  are  those  whom  it  is  impossible  to  renew  again  unto 
repentance  :"  and  in  another  that  there  are  those  to  whom  noth- 
ing remains  but  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment.3  And 
Christ  himself  has  taught  us  with  the  utmost  clearness,  that 
there  is  a  sin  which  shall  not  be  forgiven,  neither  in  this  world, 
neither  in  the  world  to  come.4 

2.  It  is  equally  certain  that  this  sin  has  direct  and  immediate 
reference  to  the  person,  office,  and  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
through  him  to  the  person,  office,  and  work  of  the  Lord  Christ. 
Not  primarily  to  Christ,  for  he  said,  in  express  reference  to  this 
sin,  whoever  speaketh  a  word  against  the  Son  of  Man,  it  shall  be 
forgiven  him  :  but  whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the 
world  to  come.5  And  yet,  of  those  whom  it  is  impossible  to 
renew  again  unto  repentance  it  is  said,  seeing  they  crucify  unto 
themselves  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and  put  him  to  an  open 
shame  :°  and  of  those  to  whom  nothing  is  left  but  a  certain  fear- 
ful looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation,  which  shall 
devour  the  adversaries,  it  is  said  they  have  trodden  under  foot 
the  Son  of  God,  and  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  an 
unholy  thing,  and  done  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace.7  Against 
the  Holy  Ghost,  therefore,  primarily  and  directly,  is  this  sin  per- 
petrated :  and  yet  against  Christ  also,  as  his  person  and  work 
are  exhibited  and  applied  by  the  Holy  Ghost — and  so  also,  once 
more,  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  he  is  the  justifier,  the  glorifier, 
the  testifier  of  Christ — or  in  one  word,  his  Vicar,  as  I  have  before 
expressed  it.  Against  the  Holy  Ghost,  therefore,  absolutely,  as 
to  his  nature,  and  person  :  and  then  further,  against  the  Holy 
Ghost,  as  to  his  office  and  his  work  in  the  matter  of  our  salvation  : 

1  1  John,  v.  1C.  2  Hcb.,  vi.  1-G.  3  Heb.,  x.  27-31. 

4  Mat,  xii.  31  •  Mark,  iii.  29 ;  Luke,  xii.  10.  B  Mat,  xii.  32. 

6  Heb.,  vi.  6.  T  Heb.,  x.  27-29. 


256  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

in  other  words,  against  the  only  efficient  agent  in  man's  salvation, 
and  against  the  only  effective  ground  of  his  agency — is  this  trans- 
gression. We  need  not  wonder,  therefore,  that  it  should  he  fatal. 
And  we  can  readily  see  to  what  a  height  the  whole  case  carries 
the  proof  of  the  unity  of  the  Godhead,  and  the  divine  nature  and 
personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

3.  The  particular  nature  of  this  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
is  further  and  plainly  declared.  It  is  repeatedly  called  blas- 
phemy against  the  Holy  Ghost :  and  it  is  never  called  by  any 
name,  or  described  in  any  manner  inconsistent  therewith.  In 
Matthew  xii.  31,  Christ  calls  it,  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
Ghost.  In  Mark  iii.  28,  he  speaks  of  him  who  commits  it,  as  he 
that  shall  blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  Luke  xii.  10, 
he  denounces  him  that  blasphemeth  against  the  Holy  Ghost. 
And  in  all  these  places,  the  Saviour  explicitly  declares  that  he 
who  is  guilty  of  this  blasphemy  shall  never  be  forgiven  :  and  such 
is  the  doctrine  taught  in  every  other  place  in  the  Scriptures, 
where  any  clear  allusion  is  made  to  the  subject.1 

4.  It  is  fundamental,  therefore,  in  any  attempt  to  get  a 
more  precise  idea  of  the  nature  of  this  sin,  than  that  it  is  blas- 
phemy against  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  ascertain  what  sense  our 
Saviour  attributed  to  the  term  blasphemy  :  and  it  is  for  lack  of 
attending  to  this  that  much  of  the  obscurity  which  environs  the 
subject  in  the  minds  of  Christians  has  probably  arisen.  Let  us 
then  settle  that  point,  (a)  They  brought  to  our  Saviour  one 
possessed  of  a  devil,  blind  and  dumb  ;  and  he  healed  him.  The 
people  were  greatly  amazed,  and  inclined  to  believe  in  Christ : 
but  the  Pharisees  said,  as  they  commonly  did,  This  fellow  doth 
not  cast  out  devils,  but  by  Beelzebub  the  prince  of  the  devils. 
Jesus,  expounding  the  absurdity  and  impiety  of  this  accusation 
of  the  Pharisees — declaring  and  proving  that  he  cast  out  devils  by 
the  Spirit  of  God — denounced  them  as  a  generation  of  vipers, 
incapable  of  speaking  a  good  thing  :  and,  in  the  midsfc  of  that 
exposition  and  rebuke,  uttered  the  terrible  words  concerning  the 
general  nature  of  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
the  absolute  certainty  that  it  should  never  be  forgiven.2  Here, 
then,  is  the  precise  significance  of  what  occurred  :  Christ  cast  out 
a  devil,  and  said  he  did  it  by  the  Spirit  of  God :  the  Pharisees 
fcaid  he  did  it  by  Beelzebub  :  Christ  pronounced  this  blasphemy 

i  Heb.,  vi.,  1-6,  x.  26-29;  1  John,  v.  16.  "  Mat,  xi.  22-37. 


CHAP.  XVI.]       DOCTRINE     OF    THE     IIOLY     GHOST.  257 

against  the  Holy  Ghost.  Explicitly,  therefore,  obstinately  to 
attribute  the  work  of  the  Spirit  to  the  devil,  or  to  any  unclean 
spirit,  and,  more  generally,  to  attribute  wickedly  and  knowingly 
the  work  of  the  Spirit  to  any  other  than  the  Spirit,  so  as  to  rob 
the  Spirit  of  his  glory  and  due.  is  blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  is  unpardonable.1  (b)  There  is  another  view  of  the  sub- 
ject which  supplements  this,  clearly  presented,  though,  perhaps, 
not  so  directly.  Thus  :  when  the  high  priest  adjured  Jesus  to 
tell  them  whether  he  was  the  Christ,  tbe  Son  of  the  living  God  : 
and  Jesus  admitted  that  he  was  ;  the  high  priest  rent  his  clothes, 
saying,  He  hath  spoken  blasphemy  ;  what  further  need  have  we 
of  witness?  behold  now  ye  have  heard  his  blasphemy.  And  to 
this  they  all  agreed,  and  adjudged  him  guilty  of  death  ;  which, 
if  he  had  not  been  the  Son  of  God — which  he  made  himself  to 
be — would  have  been  a  righteous  judgment,  according  to  the 
Mosaic  law."  And  to  this  exposition  of  the  law,  and  of  blas- 
phemy, Jesus  made  no  objection,  either  then  or  on  various  other 
occasions,  when  substantially  the  same  thing  occurred.3  Explicitly 
then,  it  is  blasphemy  to  pretend  to  be  God,  or  to  pretend  to  do 
the  works  of  God,  when  those  pretensions  are  known  to  be  false. 
And,  more  generally,  it  is  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
assume  to  do  his  office  and  work,  and  knowingly  and  wickedly  to 
rob  the  Spirit  of  his  glory  and  his  due,  by  substituting  ourselves, 
or  any  thing  else,  in  his  room,  or  by  denying  the  need  or  the  re- 
ality of  what  he  doth. 

(c)  Except  in  these  two  senses,  I  find  not  the  Saviour,  or  the 
New  Testament  Scriptures,  using  or  allowing  the  term  blasphemy, 
with  any  reference  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  to  the  sin  against  him. 
In  these  two  senses  I  find  the  Saviour  and  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures,  repeatedly  using  and  allowing  the  term. 
I  therefore  conclude  that  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
by  consequence  the  unpardonable  sin,  consists  in  obstinately  and 
wickedly  denying  and  insulting  the  Holy  Ghost  and  his  work, 
and  in  attributing  to  some  other  than  the  Spirit  works  which  are 
put  in  the  place  of  his  works,  and  which  are  pretended  to  be  his, 
or  equivalent  thereto. 

5.  Considered  in  this  manner  the  subject  assumes  the  dis- 
tinctness, solemnity  and  immense  practical  importance,  which, 

!  Mark,  i!i.  22-30.  2  Mat.,  xxvi.,  G3-G7  ;  Deut,  xxiv.  16 ;  John,  xix.  7. 

'Mark,  xiv.  C0-C5;  Luke,  v.  20-26  ;  John,  x.  33. 

17 


258  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  in. 

in  the  frequent  allusions  to  it  in  the  Scriptures,  always  invest  it. 
There  is  hardly  any  point  in  which  the  declarations  of  Christ  are 
more  earnest  or  clear.  And  accepting  as  true  the  general  doc- 
trine of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  herein  set  forth,  nothing  seems  more 
inevitable  than  that  they  who  account  his  regenerating  and  sanc- 
tifying work  to  he  a  delusion,  a  superstition,  or  a  heresy — must 
perish  :  that  they  who  substitute  idols,  or  men  making  them- 
selves to  be  God,  or  pretended  sacraments,  or  beggarly  elements, 
or  any  thing  else,  as  the  power  that  is  to  save  men,  instead  of 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  thereby  seal  themselves  up  in  the 
gall  of  bitterness,  and  unto  perdition.  And  how  it  is  possible 
that  they,  who  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost  ;x  they  who  open 
their  mouths  even  in  their  pretended  religious  rites  but  to  blas- 
pheme the  name  of  God  ;3  they  whose  very  emblems  of  existence 
and  dominion  are  covered  with  names  of  blasphemy  :3  they  whose 
most  sacred  functions  are  set  forth  by  themselves,  as  being  a 
repetition  of  the  sacrifice  of  Calvary — and  are  denounced  by 
God  as  being  a  crucifying  unto  themselves,  of  the  Son  of  God 
afresh,  and  putting  him  to  an  open  shame  ;4  they,  in  fine,  who 
throughout  all  ages,  and  of  whatever  name  or  pretension,  and 
upon  whatever  pretence  reject  and  dishonor  the  Holy  Ghost ;  how 
is  it  possible  that  they  should  escape  that  which  God  has  threat- 
ened from  the  very  earliest  ages  of  his  church  ?  They  have  blas- 
phemed the  Holy  Ghost.  God  has  declared  that  his  Spirit  should 
not  always  strive  with  man.5  There  is  no  other  way  to  be  saved. 
And  so  by  a  fearful  and  inevitable  necessity,  their  sin  becomes  a 
sin  unto  death.6 

6.  In  the  matter  of  our  salvation  it  necessarily  follows  from 
all  that  has  been  said,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
absolutely  fundamental.  The  doctrine,  not  of  a  Spiritual  influ- 
ence, but  of  a  divine  Spirit :  not  of  God  manifesting  himself  in 
a  particular  manner,  but  of  God  the  Spirit  applying  to  us  the 
benefits  of  Christ's  redemption :  not  of  divine  persuasion  and 
Spiritual  inducement  to  us,  but  of  a  real  and  powerful  work 
within  us,  whereby  the  Holy  Ghost  enables  and  inclines  us  to  work 
out  our  salvation — he  himself  working  in  us  to  will  and  to  do 
according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  God.  All  that  God  the  Father 
has  purposed  to  do  for  us  in  his  eternal  love,  or  to  exact  from  us 

1  Acts,  vii.  51.  -J  Rev.,  xiii.  G.  3  Rev.,  xiii.  1. 

4  Heb.,  vl  6.  »  Gea,  vi.  3.  "  JoLn,  \.  16. 


CHAP.  XVI.]       DOCTRINE    OF    THE     HOLY    GHOST.  250 

in  his  eternal  justice  :  all  that  God  the  Son  has  wrought  out  foi 
us,  in  both  respects,  as  Immanuel,  Mediator,  Prophet,  Priest, 
and  King  :  all  this,  God  the  Holy  Ghost  makes  practically  and 
personally  available  to,  and  in  the  redeemed.  Without  his  work 
for  us  and  in  us,  salvation  is  no  more  possible,  than  it  is  without 
what  the  Son  has  done  and  suffered,  or  without  what  the  Father 
has  proposed  for  our  deliverance.  And  if  we  will  but  consider 
our  low,  depraved  and  lost  condition,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  the 
inexpressible  power  and  wisdom  manifested  in  what  the  Spirit 
does  for  us,  as  well  as  the  unutterable  condescension  exhibited  in 
his  method  of  doing  it — in  a  light  corresponding  entirely  with 
the  eternal  love  of  the  Father,  and  the  boundless  grace  of  the 
Son.  Grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  from  God  the  Father,  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  are  made  the  portion  of  the  saints  and  mul- 
tiplied unto  them  only  through  the  Holy  Ghost.1 

1  1  Pet.,  i.  2. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE    PERFECTIONS    OF    GOD:     GENERAL     CLASSIFICATION    OF    THE 
DIVINE    ATTRIBUTES. 

I.  1.  General  Statement  of  the  Subject. — 2.  Summary  of  the  chief  methods  of  classifi- 
cation ;  (a)  Proper  and  Metaphorical  Attributes ;  (b)  Negative  and  Positive  Attri- 
butes ;  (c)  Absolute  and  Relative  Attributes ;  (d)  Internal  and  External  Attri- 
butes ;  (e)  Communicable  and  Incommunicable  Attributes. — 3.  Their  insufficiency. 
— II.  1.  Necessity  for  some  classification. — 2.  The  principle  on  which  it  should 
proceed. — 3.  The  first  Class:  Primary  Attributes:  God  considered  simply  as  an 
Infinite  Self-existence. — 4.  Second  Class :  Essential  Attributes :  God  considered 
as  an  Infinite  Spirit;  under  which  illustrative  statements  connected  with:  (a)  The 
Divine  Intellect:  (b)  The  Divine  Will;  (c)  The  Divine  Power.— 5.  Third  Class: 
Natural  Attributes :  Infinite  Knowledge  and  Wisdom. — 6.  Fourth  Class :  Moral 
Attributes:  Infinite  Goodness,  Justice ;  and  the  like. — 7.  Fifth  Class:  Consummate 
Attributes:  Omnipresence,  All-sufficiency;  and  the  like. — 8.  Connected  state- 
ment and  illustration  of  the  proposed  classification. 

I. — 1.  I  am  now  to  pass  in  review,  through  several  successive 
chapters,  those  perfections  of  God,  whose  consideration  is  most 
necessary  to  our  knowledge  of  him  ;  and  especially  those  which 
exhibit  him  most  completely  in  his  relation  to  us,  as  our  Creator, 
Ruler  and  Judge,  and  also  as  our  Preserver,  Benefactor  and  Re- 
deemer. The  whole  subject  covers  the  most  difficult  part  of  The- 
ology, considered  as  a  science  ;  indeed,  the  most  difficult  part  of 
human  knowledge  ;  and  this  was  one  of  the  considerations  which 
led  me  to  adopt  such  a  method  of  teaching  the  whole  science,  as 
would  not  bring  us  to  this  portion  of  it,  until  the  mind  had  be- 
come familiarized,  in  some  degree,  to  this  kind  of  inquiry,  and 
certain  truths,  of  the  greatest  importance  in  themselves,  had  been 
first  clearly  settled,  both  concerning  God  and  ourselves.  For  a 
similar  reason  I  prefer  to  pass  over  the  Attributes  themselves  in 
a  general  manner,  now  that  the  point  for  their  consideration  has 
been  reached,  before  attempting  any  detailed  consideration  of 
them  ;  and  to  lay  open  the  grounds  of  a  rational  classification  of 


CHAP.  XVII.]      METHOD    OF    DIVINE    PE11FECTIONS.  261 

them,  by  means  of  which  the  immense  difficulties  of  their  separ- 
ate consideration,  may  be,  in  some  degree  alleviated. 

2.  The  chief  classifications  of  the  Attributes  of  God  which  have 
been  heretofore  suggested — as  flu*  as  I  have  discovered — arc  these 
which  follow  : 

(a)  They  have  been  sometimes  distributed  into  two  classes, 
called  respectively,  Proper  Attributes  of  God,  and  Metaphorical 
Attributes  of  God.  By  the  former,  meaning  such  as  in  a  proper 
sense  belong  to  his  nature  ;  and  by  the  latter,  such  as  properly 
express  human  affections,  or  the  qualities  of  created  things,  ap- 
plied metaphorically  to  God.  As  Justice,  Goodness  and  Wisdom, 
are  Proper  Attributes  ;  but  to  say  of  God  that  he  is  consuming 
like  fire,  raging  like  a  lion,  and  so  on,  is  only  to  speak  metaphor- 
ically. 

(b)  Again,  they  have  been  classified  as  Negative  and  Positive 
-—having  reference,  by  that  distinction,  only  to  our  finite  man- 
ner of  conceiving  them.  And  thus  God's  Infinity,  Immensity, 
Independency,  Invisibility,  and  the  like,  would  be  called  Nega- 
tive ;  that  is,  be  stated  in  a  way  of  negation  ;  while  his  Wis- 
dom, Goodness,  Justice,  and  the  like,  would  be  called  Positive  ; 
that  is,  perfections  which  are  eminent  in  God  as  wc  conceive  of 
him. 

(c)  Others  have  distinguished  them  as  Absolute  and  Kelative 
— signifying  thereby  the  relation  of  some  of  them  to  God  himself, 
as  being,  so  to  speak,  absolute  in  him  ;  and  the  relation  of  oth- 
ers, both  to  the  creatures  and  to  the  absolute  Attributes  in  which 
they  are  founded.  Thus,  Goodness  would  be  considered  an  ab- 
solute Attribute  ;  while  Mercy  would  be  considered  a  relative 
one — as  being  founded  in  Goodness,  but  having  a  special  rele- 
vancy to  the  creature  ;  and  in  like  manner,  Immensity  would  be 
considered  an  absolute,  and  Omnipresence  a  relative  Attribute  ; 
Holiness  an  absolute,  and  Punitive  Justice  a  relative  Attri- 
bute ;  and  so  of  the  rest. 

(d)  The  Attributes  of  God  were  divided  into  Internal  and  Ex- 
ternal, during  the  predominance  of  the  Cartesian  Philosophy,  in 
order  to  accommodate  Theology  to  the  exigencies  of  that  sys- 
tem. According  to  that  method,  two  Attributes,  namely,  Intel- 
lect and  Will,  are  considered  Internal  ;  and  all  others  are  called 
External,  as  being  only  Relations  or  Negations,  which  are  Attri- 
butes of  God,  considered  with  reference  to  external  things. 


262  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK   III. 

(e)  Perhaps  the  most  general  method  of  their  distribution  is, 
to  distinguish  them  into  Communicable  and  Incommunicable  ; 
by  the  former,  meaning  such  as  we  find  some  analogy  to,  more  or 
less  obscure,  in  the  creature  ;  and  by  the  latter,  such  as  are  ex- 
actly opposite  to  what  exists  in  all  creatures.  The  Attributes 
called  Communicable,  are  especially  God's  Wisdom,  Goodness 
and  Justice  ;  those  called  Incommunicable,  are  chiefly  hu  Inde- 
pendence, Simplicity,  Immateriality,  Eternity  and  Immensity. 

3.  Without  discussing  any  of  these  classifications,  it  is  very 
obvious  to  remark,  that  their  number  and  the  great  diversity  of 
the  principles  upon  which  they  proceed — show  plainly  the  diffi- 
culty of  suggesting  any  clear,  simple  and  satisfactory  distribution 
of  the  infinite  perfections  to  which  they  are,  respectively,  applied. 
And  yet,  that  there  are  distinctions  amongst  them  is  perfectly 
obvious  ;  and  that  these  distinctions  ought  to  afford  the  means 
of  a  classification  as  complete  as  the  distinctions  themselves,  is 
equally  manifest.  Nor  can  any  one  doubt,  that  almost  any 
classification  that  is  not  absurd,  is  a  help  to  our  conception  of 
the  whole  of  them  ;  while  a  classification  which  would  logically 
distribute  them  all  in  some  manner,  answerable  at  once  to  our 
manner  of  conceiving  them,  and  to  the  distinctions  which  we 
perceive  to  exist  amongst  them  ;  would  be  of  the  utmost  value 
in  promoting  our  systematic  knowledge  of  this  vast  and  difficult 
— and  yet  unspeakably  important  subject.  I  have,  therefore, 
ventured  to  attempt  such  a  classification. 

II. — 1.  The  perfections  of  God  are  considered  and  treated  in 
a  separate  manner,  and  are  classified,  only  out  of  the  necessity 
on  our  part,  that  we  may,  in  this  manner,  contemplate  God  him- 
self, more  intelligibly.  They  are  not,  in  fact,  parts  of  God,  nor 
faculties  of  God  ;  but  they  are  God  himself.  When  we  mean  to 
say  that  he  knows  all  things,  we  express  that  idea  by  calling 
him  Omniscient  :  when  we  mean  to  say  that  he  can  do  all 
things,  we  express  that  idea  by  calling  him  Omnipotent  :  and 
as  both  of  these  facts  are  true  universally,  necessarily  and  inhe- 
rently in  God,  we  express  that  idea  by  saying,  these  are  Perfec- 
tions or  Attributes  of  God.  And  so  of  all  his  other  Perfections. 
2.  Now  as  God  is  manifest  in  all  things,  it  is  impossible  even 
to  conjecture  in  how  many  ways  and  upon  how  many  objects,  he 
might,  or  does,  make  his  Perfections  known.  In  effect  every 
divine  Perfection  is  infinite  :  and  the  number  of  Perfections  in 


CHAP.  XVII.]      METHOD    OF    DIVINE    PERFECTIONS.  263 

an  infinite  being  is  also  infinite — since  he  is  subject  to  no  limit- 
ation, and  the  aspects  in  which  he  is  capable  of  manifesting  him- 
self arc  illimitable.  As  every  thing  he  does,  has  for  its  founda- 
tion something  that  he  is,  and  as  every  thing  that  he  is,  can  be 
conceived  of  in  various  relations  to  every  thing  else,  that  he  is  : 
the  Perfections  which  in  any  particular  aspect  of  his  being  can 
be  shown  to  belong  to  him,  are  apparently  boundless.  Through- 
out his  blessed  Word,  the  ascriptions  of  infinite  perfections  to 
him,  scarcely  admit  of  being  numbered.  In  any  systematic 
treatment  of  the  subject,  therefore,  what  is  wanted  is,  not  a  vain 
attempt  to  enumerate  the  divine  perfections,  and  give  names  to 
them  ;  but  the  discovery  and  clear  statement  of  a  method  by 
which  such  of  them  as  are  known  to  us  may  be  classified  and 
contemplated  by  our  finite  understanding,  in  a  manner  consistent 
with  its  own  nature  and  modes  of  obtaining  knowledge. 

3.  There  are  certain  Perfections  of  God  which  may  be  con- 
templated as  qualifying  his  very  being,  as  well  as  all  his  other 
perfections  ;  conditions,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  without 
which  God,  considered  simply  as  God,  cannot  be  said  to  have  a 
being,  or  any  other  perfection.  Such  are  these — to  wit  :  that 
he  is  Simple,  Infinite,  Independent,  Self-existent,  Necessary, 
Eternal,  Incorporeal,  Immaterial,  Immense,  Incomprehensible, 
having  life  in  himself.  These,  and  the  like,  I  would  place  in  the 
first  class,  and  call  them  the  Primary  Attributes  ;  meaning 
thereby  to  express  the  idea,  that  these  Attributes  cannot  be 
separated  from  our  conception  of  the  true  God  ;  but  that  as 
soon  as  we  say,  that  such  a  being  exists  at  all,  we  must  neces- 
sarily imply,  that  these,  and  all  such  things  arc  true  concerning 
him  ;  because,  such  a  being  as  he  is,  cannot  exist  except  upon 
these  conditions — as  inseparable  from  his  existence. 

4.  There  are  other  perfections  of  God,  which  are  necessarily 
implied,  in  the  exercise,  by  him,  of  many  of  those  which  I  would 
call  Primary  Attributes  ;  and  which  are  also  necessarily  implied, 
in  the  mode  of  his  being,  as  an  Infinite  Spirit ;  perfections,  with- 
out which  we  cannot  conceive  of  his  being  a  Spirit,  at  all  ;  nor 
conceive,  if  he  is  a  Spirit,  that  he  either  lives,  or  imparts  life — 
or  that  he  exerts  any  of  his  Primary  Attributes.  As  he  is  a 
Spirit,  and  as  he  must  conceive  all  that  he  does,  he  must  have 
an  Intellect  :  and  as  he  is  a  Spirit,  and  as  he  does  conceive  and 
act,  he  must  have  a  Will  :    and  possessing  an  Intellect  and 


264  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK    III. 

Will,  and  acting  at  all — lie  must  possess  Power  commensurate 
with  his  nature  and  acts.  These  I  would  place  in  the  second 
class,  and  call  Essential  Attributes  of  Gocl  ;  intending  thereby 
to  express  the  idea  that  God,  as  he  is  not  only  God  simply  con- 
sidered— but  as  he  is  God  the  infinite,  eternal  and  unchangeable 
Spirit,  must  be  endowed  with  Intellect,  Will  and  Power — in  a 
manner  corresponding  with  his  being,  and  with  his  Primary  At- 
tributes. Now  there  are  certain  conditions  to  be  predicated  of 
these  Essential  Attributes  of  God,  which  express  more  distinctly 
the  nature  and  extent  of  these  perfections  themselves  ;  or  which 
open  to  us,  if  we  prefer  to  consider  it  so,  additional  perfections 
of  God  ;  and  these  can  be  viewed  more  distinctly,  by  considering 
them  as  related  in  a  manner,  more  or  less  direct,  to  these  Es- 
sential Attributes.     They  are  such  as  the  following,  to  wit  : 

(«)  As  connected  with  the  divine  Intellect : — That,  amongst 
God's  Essential  Perfections — are,  a  perfect  Intuition  of  himself, 
and  of  all  things  else  ;  that  he  is  omniscient,  having  an  unsearch- 
able, incomprehensible  and  eternal  insight  of  all  that  ever  did, 
will  or  could  be  ; — that  he  is  the  Fountain  of  all  Possibilities, 
and  all  Ideas,  and  therefore  of  all  Truth  ; — and  that,  from  all 
eternity  ;  and  by  an  act  of  his  illimitable  Intelligence ;  so  that 
it  is  not  possible  that  he  should  err. 

(b)  As  connected  with  the  divine  will :  That,  amongst  the 
Essential  Perfections  of  God  are,  such  as  these,  to  wit :  That  his 
will  is  infinitely  free,  pure  and  active  ;  that,  spontaneously,  by 
one  act,  and  from  eternity,  in  view  of  all  things  existing  in  his 
infinite  understanding,  his  most  perfect  will  determines  all 
things  ;  that  seeing  all  motives,  all  possibilities,  all  ends  and  all 
means,  the  determinations  of  his  will  are  complete,  immutable 
and  most  sure  ;  that  nothing  is  possible  except  as  he  wills  it, 
and  that  any  thing  he  wills  is  certain  ;  and  that  he  wills  every 
thing,  not  one  by  one,  but  all  as  a  part  of  the  boundless  scheme 
which  he  proposes  and  the  glorious  ends  he  designs. 

(c)  As  connected  with  the  divine  power  :  That  Gocl  does 
and  can  do,  whatever  does  not  in  itself  involve  a  contradiction  ; 
that  his  Power  is  of  every  kind,  and  extends  to  every  object,  and 
acts  in  every  form  and  unto  every  end,  and  that  throughout  the 
universe,  and  through  eternity  ;  so  that  no  appreciable  resist- 
ance can  be  conceived  of,  to  him  ;  and  that  no  exertion  or  effort 
can  be  conceived  of  as  being  made  by  him  ;  he  is  omnipotent. 

5.  There  arises  a  third  ground  of  distinction  amongst   the 


CIIAF.  XVII.]       METHOD    OF    DIVINE     PERFECTIONS.  266 

Attributes  of  God,  as  advancing  from  the  primary  conception  of 
him  merely  as  an  Infinite  and  Self-existent  being — we  pass  on- 
ward through  the  consideration  of  him  as  an  Infinite  Spirit,  and 
arrive  at  the  view  of  him,  in  which  he  is  to  be  contemplated  as 
an  Infinite  Spirit,  under  a  particular  aspect  ;  namely,  under  the 
aspect  of  possessing  the  perfections  of  that  boundless  knowledge 
and  wisdom,  which  have  relation  to  that  special  distinction  which 
we  call  True  aud  False.  While  it  is  certain  that  a  spirit  must 
possess  Intelligence,  and  an  Infinite  Spirit  must  possess  infinite 
Intelligence  ;  yet  the  special  relevancy  of  a  particular  kind  of 
Knowledge  ami  the  special  Wisdom  connected  therewith,  to  a 
special  aspect  of  his  being,  and  to  our  special  relations  to  him  ; 
begets  a  complete,  and  to  us  transcendently  important  distinc- 
tion amongst  the  Perfections  of  God.  Here  it  is  founded,  as  I 
have  observed,  on  the  distinction  of  the  true,  and  false  :  in  the 
next  class  upon  the  distinction  of  Good  and  Evil.  The  Perfec- 
tions of  the  former  kind,  I  would  place  in  the  Third  Class,  and 
call  them  the  Natural  Attributes  of  God  ;  partly,  as  expressing 
the  nearest  approximation  of  the  nature  of  God  to  that  of  the 
creature.  Since  of  all  spiritual  things  knowledge  and  wisdom 
are  those  in  which  the  creature — which  perceives  the  eternal  and. 
ineffaceable  distinction  between  the  true  and  the  false,  is  natur- 
ally aud  universally  most  capable  of  growing.  And  partly,  as 
expressing  a  distinction — more  slight,  between  them  and  the 
class  immediately  preceding,  and  more  marked  between  them 
and  the  class  immediately  following. 

G.  In  like  manner  when  we  conceive  of  this  All-knowing  and 
All-wise  Spirit,  which  fills  immensity,  as  taking  notice  of  that 
distinction  we  express  by  the  words  good  and  evil;  and  as  being 
actuated  by  such  affections  as  Love  and  Aversion  ;  and  conceive 
of  such  qualities  as  Goodness  and  Mercy,  or  Anger  and  Wrath, 
as  attending  their  exercise  ;  and  then  conceive  of  these  being  all 
ordered  in  Justice,  Truth  and  Long-suffering  ;  it  is  very  mani- 
fest that  a  view  of  him  is  obtained,  different  from  any  hitherto 
presented.  I  would  therefore  establish  a  Fourth  Class,  and  re- 
fer to  it  such  Perfections  as  Holiness,  Goodness,  Graciousness, 
Love,  Mercifulness,  Long-suffering,  Justice,  Truth  and  the  like  ; 
and  call  them  the  Moral  Attributes  of  God.  Meaning  thereby 
such  perfections  as  we  find  some  trace  of  in  our  moral  nature, 
and  which  all  point  to  that  eternal  and  ineffaceable  distinction 
between  good  and  evil,  already  suggested. 


266  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

7.  And  finally,  we  cannot  avoid  perceiving  that  there  are 
other  conceptions  of  God,  which  cannot  be  contemplated  without 
exhibiting  him  to  us,  in  a  manner  different  from  any  suggested, 
in  the  four  preceding  classes.  For  there  are  views  of  him 
which  necessarily  embrace  every  thing  ;  which  necessarily  show 
him  to  us  in  the  completeness  of  all  his  Perfections.  I  would, 
therefore,  establish  a  Fifth  Class,  and  refer  to  it  what  I  will  call 
the  Infinite  Act'uosity  of  God,  that  is,  the  ceaseless  movement 
of  his  Infinite  Life  ;  also  his  Infinite  supremacy,  that  is  the  con- 
summate dominion  of  that  Infinite  Life  of  God  ;  also  his  Omni- 
presence, his  All-sufficiency,  his  Infinite  Fulness  or  Infinitude, 
his  consummate  Perfection,  his  absolute  Oneness  and  his  unut- 
terable Blessedness.  And,  as  expressive  of  the  particular  ground 
of  distinction  in  these  Perfections,  I  would  call  them  Consum- 
mate Attributes  of  God. 

8.  According  to  this  method  we  are  enabled  to  contemplate 
God  successively,  1.  As  he  is  an  infinite  being  and  endowed  with 
the  proper  perfections  thereof :  2.  As  he  is  an  infinite  Spirit,  and 
endowed  with  the  proper  perfections  thereof :  3.  As  being  both, 
and  endowed  with  all  perfections  that  belong  to  both,  considered 
with  reference  to  the  eternal  and  ineffaceable  distinction  between 
true  and  false,  which  is  the  fundamental  distinction  with  which 
our  own  rational  faculties  are  conversant  :  4.  As  being  endowed 
with  all  perfections,  considered  with  reference  to  the  eternal  and 
ineffaceable  distinction  between  good  and  evil,  which  is  the  fun- 
damental distinction  with  which  our  moral  faculties  are  convers- 
ant :  5.  As  being  endowed  with  all  perfections  which  undorlie, 
which  embrace,  or  which  result  from  the  union  of  all  the  preced- 
ing perfections.  And  so  the  classes  of  his  perfections  would 
necessarily  be  :  1.  Those  called  Primary  Attributes,  that  is,  such 
as  belong  to  an  Infinite  and  Self-existent  being,  simply  consid- 
ered :  2.  Essential  Attributes,  that  is,  those  belonging  to  such  a 
being  considered  essentially  as  an  infinite  Spirit :  3.  Natural 
Attributes,  that  is,  such  as  appertain  to  an  Infinite  Spirit  con- 
sidered naturally  rather  than  morally  or  essentially  :  4.  Morel 
Attributes,  that  is,  such  as  appertain  to  such  a  being,  considered 
morally,  rather  than  naturally  or  essentially  :  5.  Consummate 
Attributes,  that  is,  such  as  appertain  to  such  a  being  considered 
completely  and  absolutely.  To  the  development  of  these  concep- 
tions, and  the  demonstration  of  the  Infinite  Perfections  of  God 
as  thus  classified,  the  five  folio  win  ^  chanters  will  be  devoted. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

PRIMARY  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD :    SUCH  AS  APPERTAIN   TO  HIM,  CON- 
SIDERED MERELY  AS  AN  INFINITE  BEING. 

I.  1.  Simplest  conceptiou  of  God. — 2.  Nature  of  the  Sufficient  Reason. — 3.  Infinite 
series. — i.  Demonstration  of  the  Being  of  God. — 5.  Demonstration  of  his  Attri- 
butes.— II.  1.  Essence  of  God  incomprehensible.  It  is  the  foundation  of  all  that 
exists  in  him. — 2.  That  Essence  absolutely  necessary  and  self-existent. — 3.  All 
Attributes  inseparable  from  this  Essence. — III.  1.  God's  Being  Independent :  and 
Eternal. — 2.  Simple.  Incorporeal.  Immaterial. — 3.  Infinite  actuosity. — 1.  The 
Fountain  of  Life. — 5.  Intelligence.— C.  Free  Will.  God  is  a  Spirit. — 7.  The 
mutual  light  of  Reason  and  Revelation. — 8.  Establishment  and  statement  of  the 
First  Class  of  the  Divine  Attributes. 

I. — 1.  TnE  simplest  idea  we  can  form  of  God  is,  that  he  is  a 
self-existent  Being,  distinct  from  us  and  from  the  universe,  who 
contains  in  himself  a  sufficient  ground  and  reason  for  the  exist- 
ence of  ourselves  and  the  universe.  Stated  in  other  words  :  that 
God  is  a  Being  absolutely  necessary  and  independent,  in  whom 
and  upon  whom  all  things  are  contingent  and  dependent. 

2.  As  it  is  impossible  for  any  thing  to  be,  and  not  to  be  ;  it 
follows  that  a  sufficient  reason  exists,  and  can  be  given,  why  any 
particular  thing  is,  rather  than  is  not :  and  why  it  is  in  a  par- 
ticular mode,  rather  than  in  some  other.  This  sufficient  reason 
being  discovered  and  stated,  nothing  more  can  be  required  con- 
cerning the  fact  or  mode  of  the  existence  of  that  thincr. 

3.  In  like  manner,  there  can  be  no  such  thing,  as  an  infinite 
series  either  of  reasons  or  causes,  in  such  reasoning.  For  as  long 
as  the  question  still  remains,  why — and  whence — any  thing  is  ; 
the  sufficient  reason,  ekher  of  the  fact  or  the  manner  of  its  exist- 
ence, has  not  yet  been  found  or  stated.  But  as  such  sufficient 
reason  does  exist,  and  may  be  discovered  and  stated  ;  it  is  not 
an  infinite  series,  but  it  is  the  ultimate  reason,  the  actual  first 
principle,  or  first  cause  that  is  sought  for. 

4.  What  ought  to  be  demonstrated,  therefore,  concerning  the 


268  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

existence  of  God,  is  that  simplest  idea  which  we  can  form  of 
him  :  namely,  a  being  of  himself  and  absolutely  necessary  ;  upon 
whom  we  and  the  universe  are  contingent  and  dependent.  Let 
us  conceive,  if  we  can,  that  God  does  not  exist.  What  would 
we  mean  ?  Would  we  mean  that  there  was  no  essence  at  all  : 
or  no  self-existent  essence  :  or  no  life  in  which  it  ever  might  be  ? 
Some,  or  all  of  these — we  must  mean — by  such  a  conception  : 
and,  no  matter  which,  it  is  absurd. — Moreover,  that  which  we 
conceive  of  as  having  life  of  itself,  and  of  its  essence,  must  exist 
if  existence  is  possible  :  but  this  is  the  conception  and  definition 
of  God  :  his  existence  therefore  is  necessary,  unless  existence  is 
impossible. — Moreover,  to  say  that  a  certain  Attribute  is  con- 
tained in  the  nature  or  conception  of  a  thing,  is  to  say  that  it  is 
inseparable  from  it  :  but  this  is  true  with  reference  to  necessary 
existence,  in  God  :  therefore  this  is  an  Attribute  of  God  :  that 
is  he  necessarily  exists. — Moreover — to  be  able  to  exist,  is  an 
ability, — while  to  be  unable  to  exist  is  a  debility  :  but  if  all  ex- 
istences are  merely  finite,  and  not  one  that  is  infinite  does  or  can 
exist  ;  it  follows  that  every  finite,  is  more  powerful,  than  any 
infinite  existence — which  is  utterly  absurd  :  wherefore  there  is 
no  existence  at  all — or  there  is  an  infinite  self-existence,  which 
is  the  cause  of  all  things.  Either  of  these  four  ways,  the  neces- 
sary existence  of  God  is  certain,  a  priori — An  infinite  series  of 
causes  is  an  absurdity  :  to  assert  the  endless  reproduction  of 
beings  whose  existence  is  not  of  itself,  is  the  weakest  form  of  an 
absurd  infinite  series  :  to  allow  them  self-existence,  is  to  make 
countless  millions  of  infinite  gods,  in  order  to  avoid  having  one 
true  God.  That  which  exists,  but  not  of  itself,  must  have  its 
existence  determined  by  that  which  does  exist  of  itself :  an  exist- 
ence of  itself,  that  is  God — has  been  shown  to  be  inevitable, 
unless  it  be  impossible  :  but  so  far  from  being  impossible — its 
reality  is  established  by  every  dependent  existence  determined 
by  it.  Thus  a  posteriori  also,  the  necessary  existence  of  God  is 
certain. 

5.  The  detailed  demonstration  of  that  first  principle  of  all  re- 
ligion, I  have  attempted  in  a  former  chapter.  I  have  also  dis- 
cussed the  fact  and  the  manner  of  the  intervention  of  God,  to 
save  sinners  :  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  Person  and  Work  of  the 
Divine  Redeemer,  objectively  considered  :  the  method  of  the 
divine  Existence  :  and  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     What 


CHAP.  XVIII.]      PRIMARY    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  269 

I  am  now  to  prove  and  to  illustrate,  therefore,  is  the  Perfections 
of  this  glorious  God,  existing  as  has  been  demonstrated,  in  three 
Hypostases  in  one  Essence  :  commencing  with  those  Primary 
Attributes  which  belong  to  him  under  our  simplest  conception  of 
him,  and  advancing  according  to  the  method  developed  in  the 
previous  chapter,  through  the  sublime  array,  to  the  highest  con- 
ception Ave  can  form  of  his  consummate  Perfections. 

II. — 1.  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves  by  words  and  terms,  but 
confess  our  total  inability  to  define,  to  describe,  or  even  to  com- 
prehend the  intimate  nature  and  essence  of  God.  Still,  there 
must  be  some  method  of  expressing  what  we  do  know  concern- 
ing this  incomprehensible  Jehovah.  And  the  highest  idea  we 
can  have  of  him,  or  of  our  being,  is  that  which  we  call  his  nature, 
his  essence.  In  this  essence  is  the  foundation  of  whatever  does, 
or  can  exist,  in  the  being. 

2.  Now  whatever  has  its  sufficient  reason  solely  in  the  essence, 
and  proceeds  from  it  only,  we  call  an  Attribute  of  that  being. 
The  fundamental  conception  of  God,  therefore,  is  of  his  essence, 
from  which  every  thing  that  appertains  to  him  flows.  But  the 
simplest  idea  of  God,  as  has  been  shown,  is  that  he  hath  a  being 
necessary,  and  of  himself.  Whence  it  immediately  follows  that 
the  essence  or  nature  of  his  being  consists  in  this,  that  it  is  ab- 
solutely necessary  and  self-existent. 

3.  And  this  is  the  precise  idea  contained  in  the  personal  name 
of  God  revealed  to  us.*  And  the  Scriptures  abundantly  declare 
this  simple,  necessary  self-existence  of  God  ;  and  that  all  things 
arc  from  him  and  by  him.1  And  the  Attributes  of  God,  as  be- 
fore explained,  are  those  things  which  follow  from  his  essence, 
and  cannot  be  separated  from  it ;  being  the  Perfections  of  God, 
which  we  distinguish  by  means  of  their  objects,  their  effects, 
our  manner  of  conceiving  them,  and  their  special  relevancy  to 
one  or  another  aspect  of  the  Being  of  God  as  revealed  to  us.  In 
reality,  these  Perfections  of  God  do  not  differ  among  themselves  ; 
nor  can  they  be  separated  from  each  other :  for  whatever  is  in 
God — is  God. 

III. — 1.  God  is  a  being  of  himself.  But  a  being  of  himself 
would  exist  if  nothing  else  existed.  God's  existence  is,  therefore, 
absolutely  independent.  It  is  also  absolutely  necessary  ;  for  we 
can  conceive  neither  of  its  beginning  nor  its  ending.     God's  Be- 

*  n'TP — o  &» — I  Am.    '  Isa.,  xli.  4;  Psalm,  cxlvi.  G;  Acts,  xviL  25;  Rom.,  iv.  17. 


270  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

ingj  therefore,  is  eternal :  that  is,  he  has  the  total  and  perfect 
possession  of  endless  life. 

2.  Every  existence  that  begins  and  ends,  does  so  in  some  union 
or  dissolution  of  its  parts  ;  that  is,  every  being  not  eternal  is 
compound.  But  as  God's  being  neither  began,  nor  can  end,  as 
has  been  proved,  it  follows  that  there  are  no  parts  of  which  his 
essence  is  composed  ;  because  it  is  only  by  union  of  its  parts  and 
dissolution  of  its  parts,  that  any  being  commences  or  terminates. 
The  Nature  of  God,  therefore,  is  not  compound  ;  but  it  is  per- 
fectly uncompounded  and  simple.  But  every  bodily  existence 
is  necessarily  compounded,  and  has  parts  :  therefore,  God,  whose 
Nature  is  absolutely  simple,  must  be  incorporeal.  Moreover, 
every  material  substance,  in  like  manner  as  every  bodily  exist- 
ence, is  necessarily  compounded  and  has  j3arts  ;  therefore,  God, 
whose  essence  is  perfectly  simple,  must  be  immaterial. 

3.  The  sufficient  reason  of  the  existence  of  all  things  is  in 
God.  But  all  things,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  are  en- 
dowed with  activity  ;  and  that  activity,  in  all  dependent  exist- 
ences, exerts  itself  as  long  as  it  is  not  repressed  from  without. 
Bat  God  is  the  source,  as  Creator,  of  this  ceaseless  activity  of 
the  creature  ;  and  God,  by  the  independence  of  his  own  Being, 
cannot  be  repressed.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  essence  of 
God  must  be  endowed  with  eternal  actuosity.  Thus  Christ  said, 
My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work  ;'  indicating  not  only 
this  ceaseless  divine  actuosity,  but  also  some  transfer  of  its  mani- 
festation in  the  kingdom  of  grace.  As  if  he  had  said  plainly — 
hitherto,  in  the  name  and  manifestation  of  my  Father — hence- 
forth in  mine  ;  by  me,  with  constant  reference  to  my  Father — 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  with  constant  reference  to  me. 

4.  Life,  is  activity  produced  by  some  inward  principle  or 
power.  But  God  is  eternally  active  ;  and  must,  therefore,  have 
Life.3  But  God  exists  of  himself,  and  also  independently  of  all 
others  ;  he  must,  therefore,  have  Life  of  himself  and  independ- 
ently.3 But  God  contains  in  himself  the  sufficient  reason  of  the 
existence  of  all  things  ;  therefore  the  sufficient  reason  of  all  activ- 
ity intrinsic  in  all  things,  that  is  all  life — is  to  be  sought  in  God. 
He  is,  therefore,  the  Fountain  of  all  Life.  And  this  is  precisely 
the  testimony  of  the  Apostle  John,  concerning  Christ.4 

5.  Now,  since  the  sufficient  reason  of  our  own  existence,  and 

1  John,  v.  17.  2  Jer.,  x.  10.  3  John,    .  2G.  *  John,  i.  1-9. 


CHAP.  XVIII.]      PRIMARY    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  271 

of  the  existence  of  the  universe,  is  contained  in  God,  we  must 
seek  in  him,  and  not  in  ourselves,  nor  in  any  thing  else  exterior 
to  God,  for  that  reason.  For  nothing  can  occur  without  a  suffi- 
cient reason  ;  wherefore,  there  must  have  been  with  God  a  suffi- 
cient reason,  why  lie  should  rather  create  us  and  the  universe, 
than  not  do  it  ;  and  why  thus,  and  not  otherwise.  But,  in  order 
to  determine  the  sufficiency  of  the  reason,  there  must  he  a  dis- 
tinct perception  of  the  thing ;  and  as  God.  in  creating,  must  act 
with  sufficient  reason,  it  follows  that  he  must  have  conceived  dis- 
tinctly, all  he  was  about  to  create.  But  the  faculty  by  which 
he  would  thus  distinctly  conceive  them,  we  call  intellect,  or  intel- 
ligence.    Therefore  God  must  possess  intelligence. 

6.  Moreover,  since  the  universe  is  from  God,  and  not  of  it- 
self, it  required  in  God  a  determination  not  only  to  create  it,  but 
to  create  it  as  it  is,  and  not  otherwise.  But  these  determina- 
tions presuppose  choice  and  acts  of  the  will.  God,  of  himself, 
and  depending  on  nothing  exterior  to  himself,  chose  and  deter- 
mined to  create  the  universe,  and  to  do  it  after  a  particular  man- 
ner. Free  will,  therefore,  appertains  to  God.  But  nothing 
except  a  spirit,  can  be  endowed  with  intelligence  and  free  will. 
God  is,  therefore,  a  spirit,  possessing  intelligence  and  free  will. 

7.  In  contemplating  the  essence  of  God,  and  the  attributes 
which  arise  directly  out  of  such  a  view  of  his  infinite  being,  we 
perceive  that  the  knowledge  we  may  obtain  in  that  way  is  im- 
mense, and  that  the  foundations  of  it  are  most  certain  ;  even 
while  we  admit  that  his  essence  is  itself  incomprehensible.  Many 
things  which  the  sacred  Scriptures  teach  us  with  great  clearness, 
we  are  able,  after  we  get  possession  of  their  fundamental  con- 
cej)tions  of  God,  to  deduce  from  a  few  great  elemental  truths. 
It  is  thus  we  can  demonstrate  so  many  of  the  perfections  of  God 
— by  a  double  process  of  reason  and  revelation.  And  then  after- 
ward, guided  in  the  same  manner — and  considering  the  perfec- 
tions demonstrated  in  another  light — and  treating  them  separ- 
ately or  in  combination  as  new  starting  points  of  our  inquiries  ; 
we  proceed  from  step  to  step,  until  we  have  surveyed  every  as- 
pect in  which,  according  to  our  measure,  we  are  able  to  compre- 
hend the  wonders  of  the  divine  existence.  It  is  the  knowledge 
of  him,  whom  to  know  aright,  is  life  eternal. 

8.  Thus  far  we  learn  this  much  concerning  those  Primary 
Attributes  of  God,  which  appertain  to  him  in  our  simplest  con- 


272  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III: 

ception  of  his  Being,  namely  :  That  he  is  Self-existent,  Inde- 
pendent, Necessary,  Eternal,  Simple,  Incorporeal,  Immaterial  ; 
that  it  appertains  to  him  to  he  eternally  Active,  to  have  Life 
of  Himself  and  Independently,  to  be  the  Fountain  of  Life,  and 
its  actual  Giver  to  all  things  that  possess  it ;  that  in  bestowing 
it,  and  in  all  things,  he  manifests  Intelligence  and  Free  Will, 
and  proves  thereby  that  he  is  a  Spirit.  This  is  the  point  to 
which  the  demonstration  of  his  Being  in  a  previous  chapter 
brought  us  by  a  widely  different  process.  It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  remark,  that  all  these  Perfections  are  infinite  Perfections  : 
that  all  these  attributes  belong  to  God  in  a  manner  answerable 
to  the  divine  Essence  from  wdiich  they  are  inseparable  :  that  is  in 
an  infinite  manner  and  with  infinite  fulness.  These,  and  such 
as  these,  are  Primary  Attributes  of  God,  and  constitute  the 
first  class  in  a  natural  division  of  the  divine  Perfections,  accord- 
ins:  to  the  most  obvious  distinctions  observable  amongst  them. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

ESSENTIAL  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD :  SUCH  AS  APPERTAIN  TO  HIM  CON- 
SIDERED AS  AN  INFINITE,  PERSONAL,  SPIRIT. 

I.  Tho  Infinite  Understanding-  of  God. — 1.  In  it  is  the  source,  and  the  rule  of  all  Pos- 
sibilities.— 2.  Tt  embraces  all  things,  in  all  their  modes. — 3.  And  in  all  their  order 
and  relations.  His  Knowledge  Inllnite. — 4.  Omniscience. — 5.  The  source  of  all 
Essences. — G.  The  nature  of  Ideas. — 7.  The  Relation  of  all  existences  to  the 
Understanding  and  "Will  of  God. — 8.  Divine  Foreknowledge. — 9.  Universal 
Truths.  All  truth  in  God.— II.  1.  The  Will  and  Power  of  God.— 2.  Tho  deter- 
mination of  the  Will  of  God  ;  with  the  ground  and  manner  thereof — 3.  Objective 
and  subjective  reasons  as  determining  the  Will  of  God.  Creation  of  the  Universe. 
— 4.  Omnipotence  of  God.  Miracles. — 5.  Immutability  of  God's  most  perfect 
Will.  The  plenitude  of  Perfection,  in  every  act  of  his  Will. — G.  It  is  All-suffi- 
cient.    Infinitely  Free.     Determines  all,  with  reference  to  all. 

I. — There  arc  certain  attributes  of  God  which  may  be  most 
distinctly  considered,  when  they  are  viewed  as  depending  funda- 
mentally upon,  and  as  immediately  connected  with,  that  Infinite 
Understanding  which  I  have  shown  in  a  former  chapter,  was  an 
Attribute  of  his  infinite  substance,  and  one  of  the  essential  and 
immediate  proofs,  as  well  as  results,  of  his  being  an  Infinite, 
Personal  Spirit.     I  will  now  consider  these. 

1.  "God  by  his  Infinite  Intelligence  knows  himself,  and  in 
knowing  himself  knows  every  thing  that  is,  in  its  own  nature 
possible  ; — that  is,  every  thing  which  does  not  involve  a  contra- 
diction. Things,  therefore,  are  possible  because  God  represents 
to  himself  that  they  involve  no  contradiction  ;  and  consequently 
the  conception  of  them  by  the  Divine  Intelligence,  as  possible,  is 
what  makes  them  so.  Wherefore  all  the  possibilities  of  all 
things  lie  in  God,  and  his  divine  Intellect  is  their  sole  fountain; 
so  entirely  that  if  there  was  no  God,  there  could  be  no  possibility 
of  any  thing  whatever. 

2.  In  itself  considered,  every  thing  is  possible  which  does  not 
involve  a  contradiction.     But  this  universe   existing  only  con- 


274  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

tingently,  its  opposite  involves  no  contradiction  ;  therefore  many 
others  would  be  possible.  But  as  already  proved,  the  divine  In- 
telligence is  the  source  of  all  possibilities,  and  God  knows  them 
all — whether  any  of  them  actually  exist  or  not  :  nay  God  knows 
all  possible  things,  that  never  did,  and  never  may  exist — as  well 
as  all  that  do,  or  ever  did  exist.  Possible  things  may  be  con- 
sidered absolutely  and  separately — or  relatively  to  each  other  and 
as  reduced  into  systems.  Considered  by  themselves,  he  knows  all 
that  according  to  their  essence  is  possible  for  them  ;  and  con- 
sidered relatively  and  systematically,  he  knows  all  their  relations, 
to  each  other  and  to  all  things.  But  there  is  no  other  way,  but 
these  two,  in  which  any  thing  can  exist  ;  so  that  the  divine  In- 
telligence necessarily  extends  to,  and  embraces  all  possible  things, 
in  all  possible  modes  of  existence. 

3.  If  all  things  which  could  possibly  be  united  into  one  sys- 
tem, are  considered  in  that  manner,  some  particular  order — no 
matter  what — of  all  of  them  to  each  other  would  arise  from  their 
existing  together,  or  from  their  succeeding  each  other  ;  in  this 
manner  the  ideas  of  what  we  call  time  and  place  occur,  per- 
haps arise  :  and  by  what  has  been  proved  it  necessarily  follows, 
that  these,  whether  as  realities  or  as  possibilities,  with  all  the 
accidents  of  both,  are  perfectly  embraced  by  the  Intelligence  of 
God.  All  things  and  all  beings,  in  all  times  and  all  places — in 
all  their  separate  conditions,  and  all  their  mutual  relations — as 
they  exist  together  and  as  they  succeed  each  other  ;  in  one 
word,  that  which  we  call  the  world,  the  universe — all  of  it. 
always,  is  absolutely  pervaded  and  taken  in,  by  a  single  Intuition 
of  the  Infinite  Intellect.  In  the  same  manner  other  systems  be- 
side ours — if  they  exist,  and  all  that  is  in  them,  God  knows  as 
he  knows  us  ;  and  if  they  exist  not,  he  knows  them  as  possibil- 
ities, as  distinctly  as  he  knows  ours  as  a  reality.  But  he  who 
being  infinite  and  eternal  knows  himself,  and  also  knows  every 
existing  and  every  possible  universe,  together  with  every  existing 
and  every  possible  being  and  thing  in  them  all,  and  together  with 
all  the  qualities  and  differences  and  relations  of  them  all  ;  he 
may  be  truly  said  to  know  all  that  is  the  subject  of  knowledge — 
and  the  more  so  as  he  knows  it  all  at  once,  and  together.  And 
in  God,  this  Supreme  Understanding  is  not  a  mere  faculty, 
denoting  a  possibility  of  acting  ;  but  it  is  an  infinite  perfection 
of  that  eternal  essence,  who  knows  all  tilings  simultaneously,  with 


CHAP.  XIX.]       ESSENTIAL     ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  275 

an  intimate  and  unerring  certainty,  and  in  whom  no  cognition 
can  be  separated  from  an  everlasting  activity. 

4.  Now,  an  Intelligence  which  extends  to  all  things  that  are 
possible,  whether  they  succeed  each  other,  or  whether  they  exist 
together,  must  he  considered  illimitable  ;  but  snch  is  the  Intel- 
ligence of  God  ;  therefore  God  hath  an  illimitable  Intelligence. 
Again  :  a  higher  and  more  perfect  Intelligence  cannot  be  con- 
ceived of  than  that  which  distinctly,  by  a  single  act,  and  simul- 
taneously, conceives  all  things  ;  but  such  is  the  divine  Intelli- 
gence ;  it  is,  therefore,  most  Perfect.  Again  ;  that  is  incompre- 
hensible, of  which  we  cannot  conceive  how  it  is  or  can  be  done, 
but  the  mode  in  which  the  divine  Intelligence  conceives  all 
things,  distinctly,  at  the  same  time,  and  by  one  act,  is  wholly 
beyond  our  comprehension  ;  that  Intelligence  is  therefore  Incom- 
prehensible. Again  :  that  is  Omniscience  which  knows  all  things 
that  are  the  subjects  of  knowledge  ;  but  God  knows  himself,  and 
all  things  that  are  possible  ;  his  Intelligence  is  therefore  Omni- 
scient. And  this  Illimitable,  Perfect,  Incomprehensible,  and 
Omniscient  Intelligence,  is  directed  toward  and  exercised  upon 
every  thing  and  every  creature,  from  that  wdiich  is  most  vast  to 
that  which  is  most  minute,  throughout  illimitable  space,  and 
boundless  creation,  and  eternal  ages. 

5.  I  have  shown  in  the  preceding  chapter  that  the  essence  of 
God,  as  a  r>elf-existent  and  necessary  being,  consists  in  that  self- 
existence  and  necessity  ;  that  is,  in  its  certainty.  From  this,  it 
follows  that  the  essence  of  all  dependent  and  contingent  exist- 
ences, such  as  all  created  existences  are,  consists  in  that  depend- 
ence and  contingency  ;  that  is,  in  the  possibility  of  their  existence. 
But  as  the  divine  understanding  conceives  of  all  possibilities  ; 
that  is  impossible  of  which  it  docs  not  conceive  ;  therefore  the 
reason  why  any  thing  is  possible,  is  to  be  sought  in  the  under- 
standing of  God.  But  since  the  essence  of  any  dependent  exist- 
ence, as  an  existence,  consists  in  its  possibility — as  just  explained 
— it  follows  that  the  divine  Intelligence,  as  the  source  of  all  pos- 
sibilities, is  the  source  also,  of  all  essences.  There  is,  however, 
a  wide  difference  between  the  possibility  of  existence  and  the 
existence  itself;  and  while  the  divine  Intelligence  is  the  fountain 
of  the  former — that  is  of  the  essence  or  possibility  of  the  exist- 
ence— the  divine  Will  is  the  foundation  of  the  latter,  that  is,  of 
the  existence  itself ;  a  distinction  without  which  every  possible 


276  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

thing  would  be  obliged  to  exist  and  God  would  be  obliged  to  cre- 
ate it. 

C.  The  divine  Intelligence  is  not,  we  must  recollect  also,  a 
mere  faculty,  but  is  a  joerfection  of  God  ;  an  Attribute,  and 
therefore  a  divine  activity.  The  representation  of  possibilities, 
that  is  of  the  essences  of  existences,  is  constantly  in  it.  But 
whatever  is  always  actively  present  with  God  is  essential  to  him  ; 
but  the  representation  of  possible  things  is  so  ;  therefore  Ideas 
are  essential  to  God,  who  in  knowing  himself,  knows  at  the  same 
time,  whatever  is  possible.  So  that  God  cannot  be  conceived  of 
without  ideas  of  things,  without  at  the  same  time,  conceiving  of 
him,  as  without  Intelligence.  But,  these  things  without  which 
we  cannot  conceive  of  God,  and  which  are  essential  to  him,  are 
necessary  ;  and  whatever  is  both  essential  to  God  and  necessary 
is  immutable  :  yet  ideas  of  things,  though  essential  to  God,  are 
not  arbitrary,  even  though  different  ideas  could  not  exist.  There 
is  a  wide  distinction  between  a  thing's  being  necessarily  possible, 
and  its  necessarily  existing  ;  and  of  that  necessary  possibility, 
there  is  a  wide  difference  between  saying  it  is  of  God  and  saying- 
it  is  of  the  thing  itself.  For  a  thing  is  possible  because  the  idea 
of  it  exists  in  the  divine  understanding  ;  but  the  possibility  of 
existences  constitutes  their  essence  ;  yet  the  necessity  of  that 
possibility  depends  on  the  divine  understanding ;  therefore  the 
necessity  of  essences  depends  on  the  divine  Intelligence,  and  not, 
like  the  necessity  of  existences,  upon  the  Will  of  God,  nor  upon 
his  decree.  These  distinctions,  though  they  may  aj)pear  intri- 
cate, are  not  only  true,  but  important  as  bearing  upon  questions 
connected  with  the  origin  of  evil,  and  with  the  Manichean  heresy, 
which  was  so  long  the  pest  of  the  church  of  God. 

7.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  ideas  of  things  are  always  actu- 
ally present  in  the  divine  understanding  ;  that  they  are  essential 
to  him,  and  so  are  necessary  and  immutable  ;  it  is  clear,  there- 
fore, that  they  are  eternal.  It  has  also  been  shown,  that  the 
ideas  of  things  in  the  divine  understanding,  the  possibility  of 
their  existence,  and  essence  of  them,  are  all  but  various  terms  to 
express  one  and  the  same  thing ;  for  the  things  are  conceived  by 
God  as  possibilities,  and  the  possibility  of  existence  is  the  essence 
of  contingent  existence.  It  necessarily  follows,  that  if  the  ideas 
of  things  are  eternal,  the  essence  of  things  has  existed  from 
eternity  in  the  divine  understanding ;  and  as  the  divine  Intellect 


CHAP.  XIX.]      ESSENTIAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  277 

is  Eternal,  the  essences  of  things,  that  is,  the  ideas  of  them, 
and  the  possibility  of  them,  are  eternal.  But  they  are  eternal 
merely  as  in  the  divine  understanding,  and  of  God,  who  repre- 
sents to  himself  all  things  that  are  possible  ;  for  it  has  been 
shown,  that  if  there  was  no  God,  nothing  would  be  possible  ; 
therefore  there  can  be  no  existence  independently  of  the  will  of 
God,  nor  any  possibility  of  any  existence,  that  is  any  essence  of 
any,  independently  ui'  his  Intelligence.  And  so  the  Scriptures 
teach  us  that  all  the  works  of  God  were  conceived  of  by  him,  and 
known  unto  him  from  Eternity:1  that  his  incomprehensible  In- 
tellect embraces  all  things,  from  the  greatest  to  the  least  ;"  that 
his  understanding  is  infinite;3  that  before  the  Immensity  of  liis 
Intelligence  all  creatures  and  all  things,  actual  and  possible,  lie 
open  and  naked  ;4  and  that  in  comparison  of  the  unsearchable 
perfection  of  his  counsel,  and  wisdom,  and  knowledge,  there  is 
not  only  none  like  him,  but  none  else.5 

8.  There  is  a  distinction  between  simple  intelligence  and  de- 
terminate knowledge.*  By  the  former,  which  relates  only  to  the 
divine  understanding,  God  knows  all.  things  that  arc  possible, 
without  regard  to  the  question  of  the  actual  existence  of  any  of 
them  ;  so  that  this  knowledge  of  Simple  Intelligence  may  be 
said  to  take  no  cognizance  of  the  future  actual  existence  or  non- 
existence of  any  thing.  By  the  latter,  which  involves  the  divine 
will,  God  knows  from  eternity  all  things  that  would  actually 
exist  in  the  system  of  the  universe.  This  is  called  foreknowledge. 
God,  as  has  been  shown,  knows  all  possible  things,  whether  con- 
sidered separately  or  in  systems  ;  hence  he  knows  all  things  that 
are  possible,  under  all  possible  systems  ;  and  all  things  that  will 
be  actual  he  knows,  as  being  determined  by  his  will.  Amongst 
other  things,  he  knows  all  that  is  possible  to  the  souls  of  men, 
embracing  the  whole  of  their  perceptions  and  thoughts,  desires 
and  purposes.  And  as  he  conceives  all  these,  and  all  other  pos- 
sible things,  at  once,  and  by  a  single  act,  the  past  and  the  future 
are  alike  to  him  ;  and  to  perceive,  to  foresee,  and  to  remember 
all  things,  as  in  our  weakness  we  express  it,  is  one  and  the  same 
act  in  the  infinite  Intelligence  ;  that  is,  all  knowledge  is  in 
God. 

1  Acts,  xv.  18.  2  Ps.  cxlvii.  4  ;  Mat.,  x.  30.  3  ps_  cxivn.  5- 

nivb.,  iv.  13.  sis.,  xlvi.  5,  9,  10. 

*  Scientia  siuplicis  Jntelligenfe,  aut  Scientia  naturalis ;  Scientia  visionis  aut  Scien- 
tia libera. 


278  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

9.  The  system  of  the  universe  contains  in  itself  the  total  con- 
nection of  all  things  that  compose  it,  and  whatever  is  possible 
by  it  ;  therefore  it  contains  all  universal  truths.  But  since  God 
conceives  all  these  existences  as  embraced  in  this  system,  it  fol- 
lows that  he  knows  all  universal  truth.  Again :  since  God  is  the 
only  author  of  all  things  that  are  possible,  and  by  consequence 
the  only  author  of  all  their  essences  ;  and  inasmuch  as  all  univer- 
sal truths  are  comprehended  under  them,  he  is  the  author  of  all 
universal  truths  ;  that  is,  all  truth  is  in  God.  From  whence  it 
follows,  that  all  truth  is  consistent  with  all  truth.  Again  :  as 
the  ideas  and  essences  of  all  things  are  eternal,  and  universal 
truths  are  contained  in  a  system  of  possible  things,  it  follows 
that  universal  truths  have  been  in  the  divine  understanding  from 
eternity,  and  are  therefore  eternal.  Moreover,  there  can  be  no 
new  truths  ;  but  eternal  truths  have  been  disclosed  from  time 
to  time,  and  may  yet  be  more  and  more  disclosed.  Again  :  as 
all  particular  truths  are  comprehended  under  universal  truth, 
and  all  universal  truths  are  known  to  God,  it  is  impossible  for 
God  to  err.  So  also,  since  God  knows  all  things  that  are  possi- 
ble, he  also  knows  what  things  are  not  contained  in  his  ideas  as 
possible  ;  that  is,  he  knows  what  things  are  impossible.  And  as 
ideas  are  essential  to  God,  and  as  whatever  is  essential  to  God  is 
necessary,  seeing  that  God  is  a  necessary  being,  therefore  the 
knowledge  of  all  things  is  necessary  to  him,  and  his  divine  under- 
standing, of  necessity,  knows  all  things.  So  much  of  the  Infinite 
Intellect  of  God,  and  of  the  Perfections  connected  with  it,  and 
flowing  immediately  from  it. 

II. — 1.  He  who  alone  hath  immortality,1  that  is,  who  alone 
lives  by  an  independent,  eternal,  and  immutable  existence,  can- 
not be  conceived  of  as  so  existing,  much  less  as  so  existing  in  a 
spiritual  manner,  without  conceiving  of  him  as  understanding, 
willing,  and  acting,  in  a  manner  corresponding  with  the  nature 
of  his  existence.  A  directing  Intellect,  a  controlling  Will,  and 
Power  competent  to  both,  and  all  of  them  exerted  with  an  activ- 
ity corresponding  to  themselves,  and  to  the  nature  of  God,  are 
perfections  which  are  inseparable  from  every  true  idea  we  can 
form  of  the  Being  of  God.  They  express  the  perfect  manner 
in  which  he  must  act,  when  he  acts  in  regard  of  the  things  which 
they  signify  ;  and  they  express  still  farther,  that  he  must  needs 

1  lTim.,vi.  16. 


CHAP.  XIX.]      ESSENTIAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF     GOD.  279 

act  in  regard  to  such  things.  To  Will  and  to  Do  belong  to 
God  no  less  than  it  belongs  to  him  to  Know  ;  and  all  equally, 
after  their  own  manner.  They  are  perfections  wholly  insepar- 
able from  each  other,  and  wholly  inseparable  from  a  living 
spirit.  And  having  endeavored  to  deduce  and  illustrate  that 
perfection  of  God  called  his  Intellect,  it  occurs  next  in  order  to 
do  the  like  concerning  his  Will  and  Power  ;  for  as  we  cannot 
conceive  of  him  as  existing  without  Intelligence,  so  neither  can 
we  conceive  of  him  as  existing  with  it,  without  at  the  same 
time  both  Willing  and  Acting. 

2.  As  nothing  can  occur  without  a  sufficient  cause,  so  noth- 
ing can  be  done  without  a  sufficient  reason.  The  sufficient  rea- 
sons of  all  acts  are  the  motives,  which  induce  the  performance 
of  them.  It  follows  that  whatever  God  wills,  he  does  it  from 
some  motive  :  and  so  we  commonly  speak  of  the  reason,  impel- 
ling cause,  motive,  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  the  redemption 
of  men,  and  all  other  acts  of  God.  As  God  knows  what  things 
are  impossible,  he  can  never  will  what  is  impossible  :  therefore 
whatever  God  wills  is  possible.  Moreover,  as  an  infinite  multi- 
tude of  things  which  do  not  exist,  are  possible,  it  follows  that 
mere  possibility  is  not  a  sufficient  motive  with  God,  to  will.  God 
knows  all  things,  distinctly,  from  eternity,  and  he  knows,  in  like 
manner,  whether  there  is  a  sufficient  motive  for  willing  any  par- 
ticular thing  :  the  knowledge  of  the  thing,  and  the  knowledge 
of  the  sufficient  reason  for  willing  it,  existing  together.  But  as 
he  wills  for  a  sufficient  reason,  he  wills  when  he  knows  the  suf- 
ficient reason  :  therefore  whatever  he  wills,  he  wills  from  eter- 
nity. But  as  God  knows  all  things,  and  the  sufficient  reason  for 
willing  any  of  them,  by  one  act,  as  well  as  from  eternity  :  and  as 
he  wills  not  ignorantly  and  without  motive,  but  according  to  his 
knowledge  of  things,  and  of  the  sufficient  reason  for  willing  them  : 
it  follows,  that  he  wills  all  things  by  a  single  act,  as  well  as  from 
eternity.  God  is  Eternal,  Independent,  the  Fountain  of  all 
things  :  he  is  therefore  the  first  of  all  and  the  creator  of  all,  be- 
sides himself:  and  so  it  is  impossible  that  he  could  be  obliged, 
by  any  thing  external  to  himself,  to  will  any  thing.  It  follows 
that  the  determination  of  his  will  is  from  himself,  and  that  what 
he  wills,  he  wills  spontaneously,  that  is,  of  his  own  accord. 

3.  The  objective  reason  for  any  thing,  is  to  be  sought  in  the 
thing  itself ;  the  subjective  reason  is  in  him  who  does  the  thing : 


280  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

so  that  the  objective  reason  why  God  willed  the  creation  of  the 
universe,  is  to  be  found  in  the  universe  itself,  but  the  subjective 
reason  why  he  so  willed,  is  in  himself — that  is,  is  himself.  The 
reason  why  God  willed  to  create  any  thing,  is  purely  subjective, 
and  in  himself:  the  reason  why,  having  willed  to  create,  he 
would  will  to  create  this  rather  than  some  other  possible  uni- 
verse, is  purely  objective,  and  lies  in  the  universe  itself,  which  he 
willed.  The  objective  reason  why  God  willed  to  create  this  par- 
ticular universe,  does,  however,  carry  us  back  into  himself :  for 
the  subjective  reason  why  he  would  will  to  create  any  universe, 
must  needs  be  a  sufficient  reason,  in  view  of  the  knowledge 
which  God  hath,  of  himself  and  all  things  :  and  therefore,  the 
particular  universe  created,  and  so  the  objective  reason  for  its 
creation,  must  have  reference,  to  that  subjective  reason,  that  is. 
to  God.  This  universe  suited  the  end  which  God  proposed  to 
himself  in  creation,  better  than  any  other  possible  universe  :  and 
therefore,  he  willed  to  create  it,  in  preference  to  all  others  :  and 
herein  lies  the  objective  reason,  for  its  creation.  Now  this  very 
objective  reason  establishes  the  fact,  and  rests  upon  it,  that  this 
universe  differs  from  all  others  that  are  possible  ;  and  that  on 
that  very  account,  objectively,  God  has  willed  it,  rather  than  any 
other.  In  it,  all  the  particular  reasons  of  all  things,  whether 
existing  together  or  successively,  resolve  themselves  at  last,  into 
that  general  one,  by  which  it  becomes  perfect  in  its  kind  :.  name- 
ly, perfectly  adapted  to  the  end  God  proposed  in  creation.  All 
particular  reasons  of  all  things,  are  subordinate  to  the  general 
reason,  which  is  the  chief  end  of  all  things  :  so  that  to  act  for 
a  sufficient  reason,  is  to  act  for  an  end  :  and  therefore  God 
wills  and  acts  for  an  end.  That  end  itself  is  most  perfect,  being 
eternally  conceived  by  the  divine  Intelligence,  amongst  all  the 
possibilities  of  things  ;  and  being  eternally  determined  by  the 
divine  will,  as  thus  seen.  And  the  universe  which  he  created  is 
also  most  perfect,  as  unto  the  accomplishment  of  that  most  per- 
fect end  ;  the  divine  Intellect  conceiving,  the  divine  Will  deter- 
mining, and  the  divine  Power  accomplishing  all  in  infinite  recti- 
tude, wisdom,  and  goodness.  Nor  does  it  militate  in  the  least 
against  these  things,  that  there  should  appear  to  be  imperfec- 
tions in  the  universe  which  God  has  willed  and  created.  For 
until  we  know  the  entire  means,  and  their  total  operation,  which 
we  neither  do  nor  cau  know,  we  cannot  say  which,  if  any,  are 


CHAP.  XIX.]       ESSENTIAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  281 

imperfect  :  and  until  we  know  the  whole  end,  which  we  cannot, 
we  can  neither  say  that  it  is  amiss,  nor  that  the  means  are  un- 
suitable. And  even  if  we  knew,  fully,  both  the  means  and  end, 
which  we  do  not,  we  are  incompetent  to  determine  the  connec- 
tion and  proper  operation  amongst  them  all.  And  even  if  this 
were  otherwise,  the  grand  predicate  of  the  whole  matter,  is,  a 
universe  into  which  sin  was  permitted  to  enter,  and  therefore,  a 
universe  which,  thus  defiled,  is  perfect  only  in  the  peculiar  sense 
before  explained,  namely,  its  perfect  adaptedness  to  the  infinite 
end,  which  the  divine  Intellect  has  conceived,  and  the  divine 
Will  determined. 

4.  As  God  has  actually  created  the  universe,  and  as  it  was 
willed  by  God  as,  of  all  that  were  possible,  the  most  perfect  unto 
the  infinite  end  whercunto  it  was  created  ;  it  is  clear  that  the 
Power  of  God  is  competent  to  the  production  of  every  thing  that 
is  possible  :  God  is,  therefore,  Omnipotent.  Miracles  are  effects 
which  flow,  neither  from  the  essence  nor  from  the  power  of  crea- 
tures, nor  from  the  power  of  the  universe  according  to  the  ante- 
cedent state  of  things.  God  has  made  the  fact  of  their  existence 
an  immediate  proof  of  the  reality  both  of  his  own  existence  and 
of  his  interposition  to  save  men.  And  it  has  always  been  a  fa- 
vorite resort  of  infidels  to  attack  them,  as  being  alike  incapable 
of  occurrence  and  of  adequate  proof,  or  even  explanation.1  Noth- 
ing is  more  simple  than  the  demonstration  of  their  possibility  ; 
from  which  easily  flows  their  precise  definition,  which  I  have  just 
given  ;  and  then  their  positive  proof,  which  does  not  fall  under 
the  present  exposition.  Thus  :  the  created  universe,  and  every 
thing  in  it,  exists  contingently  ;  for  there  is  no  contradiction  in- 
volved, and  therefore  no  impossibility  in  supposing  it,  and  every 
part  of  it  changed,  or  even  destroyed.  And  this  is  true  of  every 
law,  operation,  creature,  and  thing,  within  it  ;  all  exist  contin- 
gently. Hence  it  is  perfectly  conceivable,  it  involves  no  contra- 
diction, and  is  therefore  possible,  that  an  Omnipotent  Cause, 
exterior  to  the  created  universe — such  as  God — should  be  able  to 
produce,  and  should  produce,  such  effects  as  would  be  opposite  to 
the  effects  which  flow  from  the  essence  or  from  the  force  of  crea- 
tures or  of  the  universe,  according  to  their  antecedent  state. 
These  effects  are  Miracles.  They  are  possible,  therefore,  in  a 
double  sense.     Intrinsically,  because  the  whole  connection  of  all 

i  Acts,  ii.  22,  x.  3S. 


282  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  111. 

things  in  the  universe  being  contingent,  is  capable  of  being 
changed,  and  every  natural  law  capable  of  being  suspended. 
Extrinsically,  because  there  exists,  separately  from  the  created 
universe,  a  cause — to  wit,  God — which  can  do  all  things  by  his 
infinite  Omnipotence.  Moreover,  if  it  could  be  proved,  that  Mir- 
acles are  impossible,  it  would  immediately  follow,  that  creation 
is  impossible,  and  that  there  is  no  God.  Because,  if  miracles  are 
possible,  it  is  because  the  created  universe  exists  contingently  ; 
and  because  there  exists  exterior  to  it,  an  Omnipotent  Cause. 
But  if  the  universe  does  not  exist  contingently,  then  its  exist- 
ence is  necessary,  eternal,  and  unchangeable,  and  it  had  no  cre- 
ator ;  and  if  there  exists  no  Omnipotent  Cause  exterior  to  the 
universe,  then  there  is  no  God. 

5.  Inasmuch  as  God  wills  by  one  act,  and  from  eternity,  all 
that  he  wills,  as  has  been  proved  ;  it  follows  that  he  must  either 
change  his  purpose,  from  time  to  time,  which  is  contrary  to  what 
has  been  proved,  and  which  neither  Scripture  nor  reason  al- 
lows :  or  that  he  must,  at  the  same  time,  both  will  and  not, 
will,  which  is  impossible  ;  or  his  will  must  be  the  same  for 
ever.  Of  necessity,  therefore,  the  Will  of  God  is  Immutable. 
Again  :  God  has  determined  and  has  revealed  that  determin- 
ation to  us,  obscurely  by  the  light  of  natural  reason,  and  by  his 
work  of  creation  and  providence,  and  clearly  in  his  most  holy 
word  ;  to  work  all  things  after  the  most  perfect  counsel,  by  the 
most  perfect  means,  unto  the  most  perfect  end.  His  will,  there- 
fore, is  most  perfect.  But  as  intellect  and  will  appertain  only 
to  spiritual  existences,  and  as  it  has  been  proved  that  God  has  a 
most  perfect  intellect,  and  a  most  perfect  will ;  it  follows  that 
he  is  a  most  perfect  Spirit.  And  this  perfection  of  God  is  to  be 
taken  in  its  full  sense,  not  as  limited  to  any  single  attribute, 
without  respect  to  all  the  rest  of  them,  and  to  God  himself,  who 
is  one  with  all  his  attributes.  For  the  highest  perfection  of  God 
can  be  understood  only  of  the  union  of  all  his  divine  attributes  ; 
that  is,  of  the  entire  plenitude  of  the  Godhead.  It  is  only  with 
relation  to  this  plenitude  of  the  Godhead  that  we  can  speak  of 
the  absolute  goodness  of  any  thing  in  reference  to  God  ;  and 
just  as  it  is  only  with  relation  to  the  suitableness  of  the  entire 
universe  to  its  chief  end,  that  we  can  estimate  the  perfection  or 
imperfection  of  any  of  its  parts.  But  finite  creatures  cannot 
know  and  understand  either  the  whole  universe,  or  all  its  parts, 


CHAP.  XIX  ]       ESSENTIAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  283 

or  its  chief  end,  or  the  infinite  intellect,  will,  and  other  perfec- 
tions of  Grod  ;  much  less  his  entire  plenitude  and  perfection,  as 
God  himself  knows  and  understands  them  all.  Wherefore,  no 
finite  creature  can  judge  concerning  any  of  these  sublime  topics, 
iu  the  manner  that  God  judges  of  them.  As  I  observed  before 
with  reference  to  some  previous  distinctions,  and  the  great  doc- 
trines they  served  to  elucidate  ;  I  may  add  here  that  these,  be- 
sides their  immediate  use,  will  be  found,  if  carefully  considered, 
to  have  an  important  bearing  upon  the  doctrines  of  God's  puni- 
tive justice,  his  wisdom  in  the  permission  of  evil,  and  his  provi- 
dence toward  his  enemies.  Nor  need  there  be  any  doubt  of  the 
things  advanced.  For  besides  the  conclusions  of  human  reason, 
based  on  those  truths  which  we  certainly  know,  both  from  nature 
and  revelation,  the  chief  points  are  expressly  taught  in  the  w  1 
of  God.  For  the  perfection  of  this  universe  to  its  end,  is  dis- 
tinctly declared  by  Moses  ;'  the  determination  of  the  will  of  God 
from  eternity,  is  repeatedly  taught  by  Paul  ;2  the  omnipotence 
of  God  is  the  theme  of  some  of  the  highest  revelations,  by 
Moses,  by  David,  and  by  Jeremiah  ;3  the  ability  of  God  to  do 
exceeding  abundantly  above  all  our  thoughts  is  expressly  de- 
clared by  Paul  ;4  and  the  will,  the  purpose,  and  the  acts  of  God, 
in  working  miracles  are  among  the  commonest  things  recorded 
in  the  Scriptures  for  our  instruction. 

6.  God  being  self-existent,  and  having  no  ground  of  his  being 
in  any  other  existence  ;  nor  yet  of  his  preservation,  which  is  ex- 
istence continued  ;  and  being,  moreover,  a  most  perfect  and  om- 
nipotent spirit,  whose  perfection  or  power  could  not  be  aug- 
mented ;  he  needs  nothing  exterior  to  himself,  either  for  his 
preservation  or  his  perfection  ;  needs  no  external  aids,  and  being 
omniscient,  can  have  no  increase  of  knowledge.  Again :  God 
knows  himself  and  all  things  that  are  possible,  and  did  so  from 
eternity  ;  and,  moreover,  that  he  could  bring  them  all  into  ex- 
istence. Wherefore,  if  the  intuition  of  things  different  from  him- 
self could  add  any  thing  to  God,  he  had  that  intuition  equally, 
whether  the  things  were  actually  created  or  not ;  so  that  he  hath 
neither  need  nor  lack  of  any  thing  without  himself,  to  add  any 
thing  to  him  in  any  way  ;  for  in  him  is  absolute  All-sufficiency. 
Again  :  God  being  All-sufficient  of  himself,  it  was,  as  to  him- 

1  Gen.,  i.  31.  a  2  Tim.,  L  9;  1  Cor.,  iv.  7. 

*  Gen.,  xvii.  1 ;  Psalm,  cxv.  3 ;  Jcr.,  sxxii.  17.  *  Epb.,  iii.  20. 


284  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

self,  indifferent,  whether  the  universe  existed  or  not  ;  therefore, 
there  was  no  intrinsic  necessity  with  God,  why  he  should  create 
any  thing  ;  but  God,  as  has  been  proved,  is  perfectly  independ- 
ent ;  and,  therefore,  there  could  be  no  extrinsic  necessity  why 
lie  should  create  any  thing  ;  in  the  work  of  creation,  therefore, 
God  willed  and  acted,  without  any  co-action,  either  external  or 
internal — and,  therefore,  spontaneously  and  freely  ;  the  will  of 
God,  therefore,  is  most  free.  Again  :  God  wills  all  things  by  a 
single  act  of  his  will ;  and  God  estimates  the  perfection  of  par- 
ticular things  by  their  relation  to  the  whole  universe  ;  and  he 
willed  the  universe  to  be  as  it  is,  because,  as  it  is,  it  most  per- 
fectly answers  the  chief  end  which  he  proposed  in  it ;  that  is,  it  is 
most  perfect  of  its  kind  ;  which  perfection  consists  in  this,  that  all 
particular  things  and  ends,  resolve  themselves  into  the  great  gen- 
eral chief  end.  From  all  which  it  is  clear,  that  God  wills  nothing 
as  particular  and  separate,  but  that  he  wills  all  things  in  relation  to 
the  whole  universe.  It  is  because  we  fail  to  bear  these  profound 
truths  in  mind,  that  our  views  become  perplexed  on  various  ques- 
tions, both  speculative  and  practical :  and  many  difficulties  take 
their  rise  in  the  habit  of  considering  and  treating  particular  things, 
by  themselves,  as  if  they  alone  were  to  be  considered  and  treated  ; 
and  from  dwelling  only  on  a  single  attribute  of  God,  instead  of 
having  regard  to  the  method  of  all  the  divine  perfections.  On 
the  contrary,  the  great  canon  laid  down  by  the  Apostle  Paul  is, 
that  we  must  teach  according  to  the  proportion  of  Faith  :l  and 
the  grand  principle  on  which  that  canon  rests,  as  laid  down  by 
the  Apostle  Peter  is,  that  no  part  of  the  revealed  will  of  God  is 
to  receive  any  private,  that  is,  any  separate  interpretation,  as  if 
it  were  not  a  part  of  one  divine  whole.2 

1  Rom.,  xii.  6.  2  2  Pet.,  i.  20,  21. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

NATURAL  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD  :  SUCH  AS  APPERTAIN  TO  HIM 
CONSIDERED  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THE  ETERXAL  DISTINCTION 
BETWEEN  THE  TRUE  AXD  THE  EALSE. 

1.  The  Unsearchable  Wisdom  and  Knowledge  of  God. — 2.  Nature  of  these  Attributes. 
3.  Manner  of  Operation. — L  The  Objects  of  them. — 5.  Method  of  their  Co-opera- 
tion with  other  Divine  Perfections. — G.  Their  Relation  to  Creation  and  Redemp- 
tion.— 7.  Their  Relevancy  to  the  ineffaceable  distinction  between  the  true  and  tho 
false:  and  the  Relevancy  of  that  distinction  to  our  nature  and  destiny. 

1.  The  Apostle  Paul  after  concluding  one  of  those  immense 
surveys  of  the  whole  dealings  of  God  with  his  people,  which  so 
remarkably  distinguish  his  writings;  exclaims,  Oh  !  the  depth 
of  the  riches,  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God,  how 
unsearchable  are  his  judgments  and  his  ways  past  finding  out.1 
It  is  both  the  unsearchable  depth  of  Wisdom  and  of  Knowledge,* 
that  is  in  God.  And  to  this  extent  is  the  whole  testimony  of 
his  word. 

2.  It  has  been  already  abundantly  shown  that  the  divine  In- 
tellect perceives,  at  once,  of  itself  and  from  Eternity,  all  possible 
things  in  all  their  possible  relations.  But  according  to  our  finite 
method  of  understanding  and  representing  such  a  condition  of 
the  divine  nature  as  that  statement  expresses  ;  something  more 
than  has  yet  been  explained  is  involved  in  it,  and  must  follow 
after  it.  This  may  be  expressed  by  saying  that  all  the  concep- 
tions of  the  divine  Intellect  are  exact  and  perfect  cognitions  ; 
they  are  Knowledge  ;  and  still  further  they  are  Knowledge  in 
that  sense  which  we  call  Wisdom.  In  other  words  that  God  is 
perfectly  and  infinitely  and  eternally  Wise  and  Knowing  ;  that 
is  that  universal  and  illimitable  Wisdom  and  Knowledge  are 
divine  attributes." 

1  Rom.,  ii.  33.  *  Zockac — yvuceug, 

"  Mat.,  ii.  27  ;    Heb..  iv.  13;    Job,  xii.  13;    Psalm  exxxix.   11;    John,  xxi.  17; 
1  Tim.,  i.  17. 


28G  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

3.  The  method,  so  to  express  it  of  these  divine  Perfections, 
must  be  such  as  will  exactly  accord  with  all  the  other  Perfections 
of  God  ;  as  for  example,  with  Ins  Simplicity,  Independency,  Im- 
mensity, Immutability,  and  the  rest.  It  is  not  therefore  by 
successive  endeavors,  and  exercises,  but  it  is  by  one  and  the  same- 
most  simple  and  infinite  act,  that  all  Wisdom  and  Knowledge 
are  in  God.  Nor  is  it  from  time  to  time,  that  His  Knowledge 
and  Wisdom  are  augmented  ;  for  as  he  exists  from  eternity,  and 
conceives  in  His  infinite  Intellect  from  eternity,  all  possible 
things,  and  all  their  possible  qualities,  issues,  and  relations  ;  so 
his  Wisdom  and  Knowledge  are  from  eternity.  Nor  is  it  by 
observing  and  comparing  any  thing  exterior  to  himself ;  but  it 
is  of  Himself  as  the  sole  fountain  of  all  things,  and  in  the  perfect 
intuition  of  himself,  and  of  all  things  in  himself — that  God 
knows  all  things,  and  is  unerringly  and  unsearchably  wise  con- 
cerning all  things.  And  so,  not  only  do  his  Wisdom  and  Knowl- 
edge simultaneously,  from  himself,  and  eternally  comprehend 
and  pervade  all  things  ;  but  they  do  this  in  a  manner  most 
intimate,  infallible,  absolute,  instant  and  immutable  ;  that  is 
most  perfectly.  As  to  this  ineffable  method  of  the  divine  Wis- 
dom and  Knowledge,  we  perceive  that  it  embraces,  at  once,  all 
things  past,  present,  and  to  come  ;  all  things  that  are  possible  ; 
and  God  himself  as  the  fountain  of  them  all.  It  pervades  them 
all,  most  perfectly  in  every  way,  in  which  they  can  exist  or  be 
known.  It  rests  not  in  the  effects  of  things,  but  penetrates  their 
essences.  It  is  instantaneous,  covering  at  once  all  times,  places, 
and  things.  It  is  unalterably  certain,  containing  even  those 
things,  which  considered  of  themselves,  are  contingent.  It  is 
without  beginning  or  end,  or  change  by  way  of  increase  or  dimi- 
nution, and  so  is  invariable  and  everlasting.  It  is  the  product 
not  of  accidental  things — nor  even  of  a  divine  faculty,  but  is 
the  result  of  the  perfections  of  God  —which  are  God  himself ; 
who  is  not  only  infinitely  wise  and  knowing  himself,  and  does 
and  disposes  all  things  with  infinite  Knowledge  and  Wisdom  ; 
but  is  the  Source  and  the  Cause  of  whatever  Wisdom  or  Knowl- 
edge exists  in  angels,  in  men,  or  in  the  universe.1 

4.  The  objects  to  which  the  divine  Knowledge  and  Wisdom 
extend  are  all  things.  This  has  been  so  fully  illustrated  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  when  treating  of  the  divine  Intellect,  that 

1  John,  i.  1-14. 


CHAP.  XX.]      NATURAL    A  T  T  It  I  B  U  T  E  S    OF    GOD.  287 

there  is  no  necessity  of  enlarging  on  it  again,  in  the  same  man- 
ner. But  it  may  be  proper  to  point  out,  somewhat  more  fully, 
the  remarkable  testimony  of  God's  word  on  this  subject,  more 
especially  in  its  direct  application  to  ourselves.  We  are  taught 
in  the  broadest  and  most  unqualified  terms,  not  only  that  all 
things  are  naked  and  opened,  unto  the  eyes  of  him,  with  whom 
we  have  to  do  ;  but,  the  statement  is  turned  in  the  opposite 
direction — and  we  are  informed  that  neither  is  there  any  creature 
that  is  not  manifest  in  his  sight.1  And  in  one  of  the  most  af- 
fecting personal  passages  in  all  the  Scriptures,  Peter  appealed 
to  the  risen  Saviour  as  the  Searcher  of  hearts — in  a  manner 
which  carries  the  universal  proposition  of  the  knowledge  of  God, 
into  the  very  depths  of  the  human  soul.  Lord  thou  knowest  all 
things  ;  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee.  And  Jesus,  probing  to 
the  bottom  the  heart  of  his  penitent  servant,  accepted  alike  the 
truth  of  the  universal  proposition,  and  of  the  particular  one  de- 
duced from  it.2  Nay  this  knowledge  of  God  penetrating  the 
hearts  of  men,  is  declared  to  be  more  just  and  perfect  than  that 
which  each  particular  person  has  of  his  own  heart.  For  we  are 
expressly  warned  that,  if  our  heart  condemn  us,  God  is  greater 
than  our  heart  :  and  knoweth  all  things.3  And  even  in  the 
great,  and  to  us  who  are  by  nature  Gentiles,  the  decisive  matter 
of  our  vocation  at  all,  into  the  fold  of  God  ;  the  united  testimony 
of  the  Apostles  and  Elders,  after  the  mature  consideration  of  a 
matter  which  seemed  to  them  so  remarkable,  was,  that  it  had  its 
solution  in  this  same  stupendous,  but  undeniable  truth.  For 
beyond  a  doubt,  God  had  granted  unto  the  Gentiles  repentance 
unto  life  ;  and  equally  beyond  a  doubt,  known  unto  God  are  all 
his  works  from  the  beginning  of  the  world/  And  it  is  to  be 
borne  in  mind  that  these  and  all  other  thiugs  are  not  only  to 
be  considered  as  being  always  in  the  divine  Understanding,  as 
things  that  might  be — which  has  been  proved  :  nor  only  as 
being  determined  by  the  divine  "Will  as  things  which  shall  be, 
and  as  accomplished  by  the  divine  Power  as  things  which  are, 
which  also  has  been  proved  ;  but  they  are  to  be  further  consid- 
ered as  being  in  God  and  conceived  of  God,  and  Willed  of  God, 
and  Done  of  God  according  to  that  further  sense  which  we  intend 
by  saying  that  it  was  all  conceived,  willed,  and  done,  with  a  di- 
vine Knowledge  and  a  divine  Wisdom  :  and  that  God  is  of  him- 
1  Heb.,  iv.  13.        2  John,  xxi.  17.        U  j0hn,  iii.  20.        *  Acta,  si.  18,  xv.  1 8. 


288  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

self,  infinitely,  eternally,  and  unchangeably  Knowing  and  Wise 
therein. 

5.  It  has  been  sufficiently  shown  that  God  in  willing  to  cre- 
ate any  universe  at  all,  found  in  himself  alone,  the  sufficient 
motive  thereof ;  that  is,  that  he  is  himself*  the  end  of  all  he  does. 
His  own  glory  in  the  manifestation  of  his  own  perfections,  is  the 
grand  purpose,  and  the  subjective  reason,  on  account  of  which, 
is  the  whole  work  of  creation  and  redemption.1  And  such  is  the 
constant  testimony  of  his  word.  This  particular  universe  rather 
than  any  other,  had  as  the  motive  and  objective  reason  of  its 
creation — that  it  was  better  fitted  than  any  other  could  be,  for 
the  chief  end  which  God  had  in  view,  namely,  his  own  glory  in 
the  manifestation  of  all  his  perfections.  Yet  although  the  in- 
finite knowledge  of  God  was,  so  to  speak,  subservient  to  the  pur- 
poses of  his  infinite  intelligence,  and  infinite  will,  and  infinite 
power,  in  all  that  relates  to  the  creation  of  the  universe  ;  it  is 
clear  on  the  one  hand,  that  that  knowledge,  of  itself,  was  not  the 
efficient  cause  of  the  possibility  of  any  thing,  nor  of  the  exist- 
ence of  any  thing,  nor  of  the  certainty  of  any  thing  ;  while  on 
the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  clear,  that  nothing  could  be  known 
as  possible,  as  created,  or  as  certain  unless  it  was,  what  it  was 
known  to  be.  On  the  contrary,  the  wisdom  of  God  could  not 
concur  in  the  willing  or  the  doing  of  any  thing,  which,  as  to  the 
fact  of  it  (for  example,  any  creation),  would  not  be  for  the  greatest 
glory  of  God  ;  and  as  to  the  manner  of  it  (for  example,  this  par- 
ticular creation),  would  not  in  the  most  perfect  manner  illustrate 
that  greatest  glory  of  God. 

6.  We  perceive,  therefore,  a  substantial  distinction,  accord- 
ing to  our  manner  of  conceiving  things,  between  these  divine 
perfections  ;  and  at  the  same  time  their  perfect  accordance  with 
each  other,  and  with  every  other  perfection  of  God.  Seeing  im- 
perfection, evil,  and  sin  are  in  the  universe,  it  follows  that  they 
are  in  it  with  the  knowledge,  notwithstanding  the  omnipotence, 
according  to  the  will,  and  not  against  the  wisdom  of  God.  And 
no  higher  proof  can  be  given  than  this — that  by  means  of  their 
existence  in  the  universe,  God's  perfections  will  be  more  com- 
pletely manifested — and  his  glory  will  be  greater  than  if  they 
had  not  existed  in  the  universe.  Nor  can  any  higher  conception 
be  formed  of  the  knowledge  and  wisdom  of  God,  than  that  they 

1  Rom.,  xi.  36 ;  1  Tim.,  i.  17 


CHAP.  XX.]       NATURAL     ATT11IBUTES     OF     GOD.  289 

can  disclose  and  conduct  a  method,  whereby  imperfection,  and 
evil,  and  sin  shall  turn  to  the  manifestation  of  the  very  highest 
glory  of  God.  All  of  which,  and  much  more,  is  contained  in 
that  pregoant  Scripture  which  pronounces  Christ  crucified  to  be, 
not  only  Christ  the  power  of  God,  but  also  Christ  the  wisdom  of 
God.' 

T.  Intellect  and  Will  appertain  exclusively  to  that  which 
is  spiritual  ;  and  Power  is  inseparable  from  our  primary  concep- 
tion of  Will,  directed  by  Intelligence.  When  we  add  to  the 
infinite  spirit  thus  endowed,  Wisdom  and  Knowledge  as  infinite 
as  they,  and  all  as  infinite  as  the  essence  of  which  all  of  them 
arc  Attributes  ;  we  may  be  said  to  have  as  complete  a  concep- 
tion as  we  can  entertain  of  the  sublime  outline  of  God's  rational 
nature,  considered  separately  as  far  as  we  are  able  to  do  so. 
Whatever  may  be  the  nature  of  that  ineffaceable  distinction, 
which  we  express  by  The  True  and  The  False;  it  is  inconceivable 
that  such  a  Being  should  not  eternally  perceive  it  and  eternally 
respect  it.  If  his  own  nature  is  the  foundation  of  the  distinction, 
then  the  distinction  is  commensurate  with  his  Being  ;  that  is,  it  is 
an  infinite  and  eternal  distinction.  It  is  in  the  light  of  that  dis- 
tinction that  our  rational  faculties  take  cognizance  of  whatever  is 
submitted  to  them  ;  it  is  on  its  reality  that  all  increase  in  knowl- 
edge and  all  growth  in  wisdom  on  our  part  depend.  Without  it, 
it  is  not  easy,  if  it  be  possible,  to  affix  any  idea  to  what  we  call 
Intelligence  ;  and  if  it  be  obliterated,  we  obliterate  at  the  same 
time  the  distinction  between  Good  and  Evil,  since  the  Good  is 
always  the  True,  and  the  Evil  is  always  the  False.  It  is  thus 
the  rational  nature  of  God  underlies  the  moral  nature  of  God  ; 
and  while  both  aspects  of  his  Being  afford  the  most  distinct 
means  of  surveying  and  comprehending  it,  the  rational  goes  be- 
fore the  moral.  It  is  thus  that  unshaken  foundations  are  laid 
for  a  true  science,  both  of  the  mind  and  the  soul  of  man  ;  for 
philosophy  in  general,  and  metaphysics  and  morals  in  particu- 
lar. We  were  created  in  the  image  of  God,  both  in  knowledge 
and  in  holiness.  The  sum  of  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of 
the  Father,  while  he  dwelt  among  men  as  the  Word  made  Flesh, 
was  the  glory  of  the  fulness  of  Grace  and  Truth.2  And  in  the 
manifestation  of  the  Spirit  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal, 
to  one  is  given  by  the  Spirit  the  word  of  Wisdom — that  is  divine 

1  Cor.,  L  23,  24.  2  John,  i.  14 

19 


290  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

Wisdom ;  to  another  the  word  of  Knowledge,  that  is  divine 
Knowledge,  by  the  same  Spirit.1  '•'  Our  Creator,  our  Saviour, 
and  our  Sanctifier,  all  deal  with  us  upon  the  basis  of  this  in- 
effaceable distinction  between  the  True  and  the  False,  which 
underlies  all  Wisdom  and  all  Knowledge  ;  and  our  own  rational 
nature  whether  considered  in  its  original,  its  fallen,  its  renewed, 
or  its  sanctified  state,  is  consciously  responsive  to  that  divine 
dealing  and  that  eternal  distinction. 

1  1  Cor.,  xii.  7,  8. 

*  Aoyoc  oodiac — 7.oyoc  yvoaeuc-  But  ?.oyoc  The  Word,  is  one  of  the  most  em- 
phatic appellations  of  the  Son  of  God.  What  the  to  nvev/ia,  The  Spirit  gives,  there- 
fore, is  Divine  Wisdom — Divine  Knowledge. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

MORAL  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD:  SUCK  AS  APPERTAIN  TO  HIM  CONSID- 
ERED WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THE  ETERNAL  DISTINCTION  BE- 
TWEEN GOOD  AND  EVIL. 

L  1.  Recapitulation  of  the  Distinctions  on  which  the  first  three  Classes  of  Divine  At- 
tributes rest.  The  Fourth  Class. — 2.  Infinite  Rectitude  of  God. — 3.  The  true 
ground  of  Moral  distinctions. — II.  1.  Relation  of  God's  Holiness  to  his  Justice 
and  his  Goodness. — 2.  That  of  his  Goodness  to  his  will. — 3.  And  to  all  his  P<  r- 
fections,  and  to  the  chief  end  of  his  whole  work. — 4.  Goodness  of  God  in  itself 
and  as  manifested  in  Grace,  Love,  Mercy,  and  Long-suffering. — 5.  Nature  and 
fruits  of  Divine  Grace. — III.  1.  The  Lovo  of  God. — 2.  Its  power  and  manifesta- 
tion.'—3.  Its  force  as  an  element,  both  systematic  and  living,  in  our  Salvation. 
— TV.  1.  The  Mercy  of  God,  as  flowing  from  his  Goodness,  through  his  Love. — 

2.  Divine  Succor  for  the  Miserable. — 3.  Universal  manifestation  of  Divine  Mercy. 
Sole  Cause  of  its  inefficacy. — 4.  The  Cavil,  that  it  is  unequal. — 5.  That  it  ought 
to  prevent,  or  remove  all  misery. — G.  That  it  ought  to  have  obliged  God  to  hin- 
der Sin,  and  thereby  hinder  Misery. — V.  1.  Long-suffering  of  God. — 2.  Its  im- 
measurable exercise. — 3.  Its  universal  application. — 4.  The  fate  of  despisers 
thereof. — YI.  1.  The  Justice  of  God. — 2.  Particular  account  of  its  several  aspects. 

3.  Infinite  in  God.  His  Immaculate  exercise  thereof. — 4.  Its  Relation  to  the 
Infinite  Truth  of  God. —  5.  The  Distributive  Justice  of  God.  Unavoidable  cer- 
tainty of  Retribution. — 6.  Fundamental  application  to  all  God'e  dealings  with 
man. — 7.  Exacting  even  the  blood  of  Christ ! 

I. — 1.  We  pass  next  to  the  consideration  of  God,  by  means  of 
another  class  of  his  Perfections,  which  exhibit  his  nature  and 
character  to  us  in  an  aspect  different  from  any  in  which  the  At- 
tributes hitherto  discussed  have  shown  him  to  us.  However  we 
may  attempt  to  express  it,  there  is,  to  us,  a  distinction,  and 
therefore  a  ground  of  more  precise  knowledge,  between  contem- 
plating God  merely  as  an  Infinite  Self-existence,  and  contem- 
plating him  as  an  Infinite  Personal  Spirit  :  and  then  a  further 
distinction  arises  when  we  contemplate  him  as  an  Infinite  Per- 
sonal Spirit,  endowed  with  such  Attributes  as  boundless  Knowl- 
edge and  Wisdom,  the  infinite  reality,  of  which  our  own  rational 
nature  is  a  kind  of  shadow.     So  far  we  have  come.     And  now  it 


292  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

is  equally  clear  that  a  further  distinction  is  perceived  when,  hav- 
ing reached  that  point  in  the  development  of  the  vast  subject, 
we  address  ourselves  to  the  consideration  of  those  Perfections  of 
God,  which  according  to  our  manner  of  conceiving,  possess  a 
distinctly  moral  character.  For  we  conceive  of  God's  being,  as 
real,  necessary,  eternal,  and  so  on,  without  determining  any  thing 
in  particular  as  to  its  exact  mode  ;  hut  when  we  come  to  con- 
sider him  as  a  spirit,  and  a  person,  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  con- 
ceive of  him  as  destitute  of  Intellect,  and  Will,  and  Power  :  and 
so  a  fundamental  distinction  is  laid  in  our  minds.  And  then 
when  we  conceive  of  infinite  Wisdom  and  Knowledge  directing 
all  the  acts  of  his  Intellect  and  Will,  and  underlying  every  exer- 
tion of  his  Power  ;  he  is  represented  to  us  in  a  new  light,  and  a 
new  distinction  arises.  And  then  when  we  conceive  of  God  as 
having  such  affections  as  Love  and  Hatred  ;  and  conceive  of 
Goodness,  and  Mercy,  and  Anger,  and  Wrath,  as  attending  them  ; 
and  conceive  of  all  as  being  ordered  in  Justice,  Long-suffering, 
Equity,  and  so  on  ;  it  is  very  clear  that  another  and  most  im- 
portant distinction  is  afforded,  whereby  the  nature  of  God  may 
be  more  nearly  contemplated  through  such  Attributes. 

2.  The  first  in  this  great  class  of  the  Moral  Attributes  of  God, 
is  his  infinite  Eectitude,  Righteousness,  or  Holiness,  as  it  is  va- 
riously called  ;  which  is,  indeed,  at  the  foundation  of  all  the  rest, 
and  the  very  basis  of  his  moral  character.  A  perfect  being  must 
possess  not  only  all  possible  separate  perfections,  but  those  per- 
fections must  co-exist  in  him,  in  a  perfect  relation  to  each  other. 
Without  limit  as  to  their  number,  and  without  limitation  as  to 
their  completeness,  the  Attributes  of  God  are  of  that  kind,  and 
so  exist  in  him,  that  being  neither  different  from  each  other,  nor 
inconsistent  with  each  other,  they  exclude  all  imperfection  and 
embrace  all  perfection.  On  the  one  hand,  a  perfect  being  can- 
not be  conceived  of  as  wanting  Holiness  ;  for  how  is  that  jierfect 
which  wants  not  only  an  infinite  good,  but  the  greatest  of  all 
moral  perfections  ?  On  the  other  hand,  an  infinitely  perfect  be- 
ing cannot  be  conceived  of,  otherwise  than  as  possessing  a  con- 
stant and  unalterable  Will  to  do  whatever  is  right.  And  every 
free  right  action  in  such  a  being,  must  have  the  sufficient  motive 
and  ground  of  it  only  in  his  own  essence  and  perfections  ;  and 
therefore  no  action  of  his  can  possibly  contradict  any  of  his  attri- 
butes, or  any  of  his  essential  determinations  ;  and  therefore  the 


CHAT.  XXI.]      MORAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  293 

Holiness  of  God  is  well  enough  defined,  to  be  that  supreme  love 
by  which  he  is  carried  into  himself — excluding  every  thing  which 
is  inconsistent  with  his  perfections,  and  which  is  not  founded  in 
them.  All  the  perfections  of  God  are  essential ;  they  inhere  in 
God  ;  they  are  God  ;  and  so  they  are  immutable,  and  could 
neither  be  changed  nor  substituted  by  other  perfections,  any  way 
different  from  them  ;  and  therefore  the  Holiness  of  God  is  im- 
mutable, and  could  not  be  changed  even  by  the  Will  of  God.  It 
follows,  that  God  does  not  "Will  any  thing  which  is  unworthy  of 
his  Perfections,  and  inconsistent  with  his  infinite  Rectitude  ;  and 
that  in  the  order  of  thought  Holiness  is  the  rule  of  his  Will,  and 
not  his  Will  the  rule  of  holiness  ;  that  is,  God  wills  only  such 
things  as  agree  with  all  his  infinite  Perfections,  which  Perfec- 
tions do  not  depend  on  his  Will,  but  have  an  inbeing  with  his 
Essence. 

3.  To  us,  no  doubt,  all  that  God  wills  is  right :  but  in  God 
himself  there  is  a  very  wide  difference  between  saying,  he  wills 
any  thing  because  it  is  right — that  is  because  it  accords  with  all 
his  Perfections  ;  and  saying  any  thing  is  right,  that  is  accords 
with  all  his  Perfections — merely  because  he  wills  it.  A  distinc- 
tion which  draws  after  it — remote  and  subtle  as  it  may  be  sup- 
posed to  be — the  whole  nature  of  moral  good  and  evil,  and  the 
whole  economy  of  salvation.  For  the  necessary  and  immutable 
distinction  between  good  and  evil  ;  and  the  foundation  of  all 
religion,  both  in  God  and  human  nature  ;  and  the  rule  of  God's 
infinite  justice  ; — and  the  need  of  a  Saviour  ;  are  all  subverted 
and  every  logical  foundation  taken  away  from  them — as  soon  as 
the  mere  will  of  God  is  substituted  for  the  perfection  of  all  his 
attributes,  and  the  Holiness  of  his  adorable  nature — as  the  ulti- 
mate ground  of  moral  distinctions,  and  the  fundamental  basis 
of  right  actions.  Good  and  evil  depend  on  law,  not  on  nature  ;* 
was  an  apothegm  of  the  ancient  atheists — who  only  substituted 
nature  for  God,  in  the  proposition.  The  number  is  not  small 
amongst  Christian  teachers,  who,  under  the  guise  of  evangelical 
contempt  for  human  reason,  and  extraordinary  devotion  to  the 
honor  of  God's  revealed  will,  still  retain  in  a  somewhat  different 
logical  form,  and  perhaps,  in  a  somewhat  mitigated  degree,  the 
essential  poison  of  the  detestable  paradox. 

II. — 1.  The  infinite  Holiness  of  God — manifested  in  all  his 

*  To  SiKaiov  etrai  nai  to  aiaxpov  ov  $vgzl  a/.Aa  vo/nu. 


294 


THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


ways  and  in  all  his  works,  may  be  said  to  be  exhibited  in  a  most 
peculiar  manner,  in  every  exercise  of  his  Justice  and  his  Good- 
ness ;  which  are  two  moral  perfections  of  his  nature,  which 
bring  him  so  nigh  to  us  as  creatures  and  as  sinners.  The  Great 
the  Mighty  God,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  from  whom  nothing  is  hid, 
and  to  whom  nothing  is  too  hard  ;  in  the  greatness  of  his  coun- 
sel and  the  might  of  his  working,  exhibits  his  loving-kindness 
unto  thousands — but,  also,  gives  to  every  one  according  to  his 
ways,  and  the  fruit  of  his  doing.1  Next  after  the  Holiness  of 
God,  therefore,  it  is  proper  to  consider  his  Goodness — and  then 
his  Justice  ; — which  like  it,  have  also  a  special  relation  to  his 
Will. 

2.  It  is  in  this  relation  of  the  Goodness  of  God  to  that 
infinite  Will,  according  to  the  counsel  of  which  he  works  all 
things,  that  we  find  the  method  of  all  his  work  of  creation,  and 
providence  and  grace.  His  boundless  Goodness  led  him  to  open 
that  fountain  of  life,  which  was  hid  in  him  from  eternity  ;— and 
to  create  a  universe,  which  perfect  in  itself,  and  perfect  in  the 
glorious  end  of  its  existence,  might  partake  of  his  knowledge 
and  his  love  ;  and  while  it  illustrated  his  perfections,  might 
dwell,  at  least  in  the  shadow  of  his  blessedness,  by  an  adequate 
fruition  of  himself.  And  when  the  universe  became  polluted  by 
sin,  there  was  left  for  it,  in  all  the  divine  perfections,  no  assured 
refuge  except  in  the  eternal  Beneficence  of  God.  And  when  we 
consider  that  the  universe  was  created  in  a  manner,  and  to  an 
end — most  perfect  ;  that  the  whole  series  of  existences,  and 
every  particular  creature — was  endowed  with  the  utmost  perfec- 
tion of  which  they  were  all  capable,  in  their  place  and  for  their 
end — and  were  all  related  to  each  other  in  the  same  perfect 
manner  :  that  evil  itself,  of  whatever  kind,  is  directed  to  some 
end  that  is  good — and  that  its  introduction  into  the  universe 
will  be  made  to  turn  to  the  highest  glory  of  God,  and  the  high- 
est good  of  the  universe  itself :  that  all  this  has  occurred — by 
means  indeed  of  all  the  perfections  of  God — but  in  a  most  pecu- 
liar sense  because  it  is  of  God's  nature  to  be  unutterably  Good  : 
it  becomes  impossible  for  us  to  conceive  that  any  greater  good- 
ness could  exist. 

3.  But  the  Goodness  of  God  cannot  be  separated  from  the  othei 
Attributes  of  God,  nor  from  God  himself ;    for,  as  has  been 

i  Jer.,  xxxii.  18.  19. 


CHAP.  XXI.]         MORAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  295 

shown  before,  the  perfection  of  the  universe  is  to  be  estimated 
with  reference  to  the  whole  of  it,  and  to  its  end  ;  and  the  per- 
fection of  God  is  to  be  estimated  with  reference  to  all  his  attri- 
butes, and  to  himself;  hence  the  goodness  of  God  must  be 
considered  with  relation  to  the  whole  universe,  and  to  all  the 
divine  attributes  ;  and  so  considered,  it  is  that  attribute  which 
leads  him  to  bestow  upon  every  creature  as  much  perfection  as  is 
consistent  with  the  method  and  chief  end  of  the  universe,  and 
with  all  his  own  perfections.  It  is  not  a  divine  weakness,  but  it 
is  a  divine,  and  therefore  an  infinite,  Perfection.  To  communi- 
cate a  being,  a  light,  a  felicity,  a  perfection,  which,  in  the  com- 
parison, shall  be  some  slight  reflection  of  himself,  to  dependent 
existences,  is  the  primary  impulse  of  this  Beneficence  of  God  to- 
ward the  creatures  ;  and  to  pity  and  succor  them  in  whatever 
miseries,  or  whatever  endeavors  toward  him,  as  long  and  as  fur 
as  is  consistent  with  his  other  perfections,  is  its  second  impulse 
toward  them.  But  immeasurable  as  may  be  the  riches  of  the 
goodness,  and  long-suffering,  and  forbearance  of  God,  there  are 
things  to  which  even  an  infinite  Beneficence  does  neither  bind 
nor  impel  him  ;  and  the  despisers  of  his  Goodness  must  not  ex- 
pect to  escape  the  judgment  of  God,  nor  be  surprised  to  find  that 
obstinate  impenitence  and  hardness  of  heart  are  not  claims 
upon  his  Goodness,  but  are,  for  the  present,  only  tribulation  and 
anguish,  and  for  the  future  treasuries  of  indignatiun  and  wrath.1 
Not  is  it  for  finite,  much  less  for  sinful  creatures,  to  order  the 
method,  the  extent,  or  the  proportion  in  which  this,  any  more 
than  any  other  attribute  of  God,  shall  either  exert  itself  or  dis- 
play itself.  But  the  part  of  such  creatures  is,  to  receive  with 
adoring  thankfulness  whatever  measure  of  goodness  is  meted 
out  to  them,  and  use  it  diligently,  as  at  once  a  blessing  and  a 
trust  ;  knowing  that  their  portion,  whatever  it  may  be,  is  very 
far  beyond  what  they  are  entitled  to  expect,  or  are  likely  to  use 
aright,  and  is  the  utmost  that  infinite  Goodness  could  bestow, 
with  a  perfect  regard  either  to  their  advantage,  or  to  the  great 
end  of  the  whole  universe,  or  to  the  glory  of  the  giver  of  all 
good. 

4.  There  is  none  good  but  one,  that  is  God.3    His  goodness  is 
infinite,  so  that  all  other  goodness  flows  out  of  him  :  and  with 
unwasting  fulness,  all  goodness  dwells  in  him  ;  and  unto  him,  as 
1  Rom.,  il  3-11.  3  Mat.,  xis.  17. 


296  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  III 

the  chief  end,  all  goodness  is  referred  ;  and  of  himself,  in  himself, 
and  without  himself — he  is  the  eternal  and  unchan gable  pattern 
and  measure,  as  well  as  the  only  source  of  perfect  goodness  ;  so  that 
not  only  is  all  Good  essential  and  immeasurable  in  him  as  God, 
but  as  God  creating,  governing,  and  disposing  all  things,  as  God 
redeeming  lost  sinners,  and  as  God  judging  the  world,  he  sets  him- 
self forth  to  our  apprehension  and  to  our  love  as  being  the  chief- 
est  among  ten  thousand,  and  altogether  lovely  ;'  persuading  us, 
yea  enabling  us,  to  taste  and  see  that  he  is  Good,  and  to  accept 
the  blessedness  that  flows  from  him."  For  even  when  we  were 
sometime  foolish,  disobedient,  deceived,  serving  divers  lusts  and 
pleasures,  living  in  malice  and  envy,  hateful  and  hating  one 
another,  the  kindness  and  love  of  God  our  Saviour  toward  men 
appeared,  not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we  have  done  ;  but 
according  to  his  mercy  he  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  regenera- 
tion and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost.3  Grace,  therefore, 
and  Love  and  Mercy,  to  which  we  may  add  Long-suffering,  are 
perfections  of  God,  which  flow  immediately  from  his  unsearch- 
able Goodness  ;  or,  if  we  prefer  to  express  it  differently,  they  are 
branches  of  that  Goodness,  divers  kinds  of  it — special  modes  in 
which  it  is  manifested. 

5.  The  divine  declaration  is  most  precise,  that  it  is  the  grace 
of  God  that  bringeth  salvation.4  If  any  sinner  shall  ever  obtain 
eternal  life — it  can  only  be  by  the  gift  of  God  :  for  death  is  the 
wages  of  sin.  And  it  must  be  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  : 
for  as  there  is  but  one  God — so  there  is  but  one  mediator  between 
God  and  man— the  man  Christ-Jesus.6  The  efficient  cause  of 
this  Grace  of  God  is  his  own  Goodness  and  Free-will :  the  final 
cause  is  the  salvation  of  his  children  :  and  the  glory  of  his  own 
great  name  is  the  chief  end.  The  beginning,  the  continuance, 
and  the  accomplishment,  of  every  good  thing  we  can  possess  in 
this  life,  or  in  the  life  to  come — depend  wholly  upon  the  grace 
of  God/'  And  so  we  speak  of  this  grace  of  God  as  being  uni- 
versal, because  all  of  us,  merely  as  his  creatures,  partake  of  it : 
and  yet  also  as  being  special,  because  it  is  specially  given,  accord- 
ing to  every  special  end  it  accomplishes.     And  we  call  it  prevent- 

1  Cant,  v.  10-15.  "  Ps.  xvi.  11,  xxx.  8,  9.  3  Titus,  iii.  3-5. 

4  Titus,  ii.  11.  5  Rom.,  vi.  23 ;  1  Tim.,  ii.  v. 

0  2  Tim.,  i.  9;  Phil.,  ii.  13;  Rom.,  iii.  24,  xii.  6;    1  Cor.,  xii.  9;    Titus,  iii.   5;   1 
John,  iv.  2  ;  Ezek.,  xxxvi.  27  ;  Jeremiah,  xxxiL  40. 


CHAP.  XXI.]         MORAL     ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  297 

ing  grace,  because  it  precedes  all  good  in  us;  and  enlightening 
the  understanding,  and  swaying  the  heart,  and  determining  the 
will  of  man — it  both  inclines  and  enables  us.  And  we  call  it 
Free  Grace,  because  God  bestows  it  by  a  free  act  of  his  most 
holy  Will,  freely  upon  us.  And  we  call  it  gratuitous  grace — be- 
cause, though  it  was  purchased  by  the  blood  of  Christ — that 
blood  was  not  ours  to  give,  nor  were  we  fit,  much  less  worthy, 
even  to  receive,  much  less  merit  it,  except  as  we  were  seen  of 
God  in  him.  And  we  call  it  efficacious  Grace,  because  it  really 
produces  in  us  those  effects  which  are  designed  of  God,  and 
Which  are  appropriate  to  its  own  nature  and  end.  And  to  crown 
all,  Ave  call  it  Sovereign  Grace,  because  God  the  Sovereign  Ruler 
of  the  universe,  neither  owes,  admits,  nor  renders  any  account  of 
the  administration  of  his  own  royal  favor.  It  is  precisely  be- 
cause the  goodness  of  God  is  bestowed  on  objects  which  are, 
of  themselves,  unworthy  of  his  favor,  that  it  is  called  Grace  : 
and  therefore  we  must  seek  elsewhere  than  in  them,  that  is,  we 
must  seek  in  God  himself,  for  the  sufficient  ground  and  reason 
of  the  favor  shown  to  them.  The  answer  is,  that  it  belongs  to 
his  nature  to  be  gracious. 

III. — 1.  God,  says  the  Apostle  John — is  Love.  And  he 
adds  :  In  this  was  manifested  the  Love  of  God  towards  us,  be- 
cause that  God  sent  his  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that 
we  might  live  through  him.  Herein  is  Love,  not  that  we  loved 
God,  but  that  he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation 
for  our  sins.:  For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish 
but  have  everlasting  life.2  And  that  sending  of  his  Son,  and 
that  propitiation  which  through  the  love  of  the  Father  he  became 
f<>r  our  sins — is  explained  by  the  Apostle  Paul  to  be,  that  God 
spared  not  his  own  Son  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all.3  Upon 
which  amazing  state  of  case,  the  latter  Apostle  draws  this  adoring 
inference,  How  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all 
things  :  and  the  former  Apostle  this,  Behold  what  manner  of 
Love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be 
called  the  Sons  of  God/  In  the  infinite  perfection  of  God's  na- 
ture, one  shape  which  his  Goodness  takes — one  result  of  his 
perfect  and  unchangeable  Beneficence,  is  that  he  should  Love. 
Indifference  is  no  more  possible  with  God,  than  inaction,  or  igno- 

1  1  John,  iv.  8-10.         a  John,  iii.  1G.         3  Rom.,  viii.  32.        *  1  John,  iii.  1. 


298  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  111. 

ranee,  or  any  other  state  opposite  to  any  one  of  his  Perfections. 
But  in  the  exercise  of  his  Love,  as  in  that  of  all  his  Perfections, 
there  is  a  divine  proportion  and  measure,  which  takes  in  all  his 
being ;  and  a  divine  procedure  according  to  the  nature  of  his 
being. 

2.  Our  Love  is  a  passion  of  the  human  soul :  God's  Love  is 
an  Attribute  of  the  divine  essence — and  like  every  other  attri- 
bute is  free,  eternal  and  unalterable.  Springing  up  within  him- 
self, and  from  himself,  as  essentially  and  spontaneously  as  the 
infinite  Goodness  to  which  it  is  so  nearly  related,  or  the  infinite 
Wisdom  by  which  it  is  directed  ;  he  is  himself  the  immediate 
object  of  this  infinite  complacency.  And  then  in  like  manner — 
is  the  infinite  Love  of  the  Father,  the  Word  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  mutually  for  each  other  ;  in  which  consists  one  element 
of  the  eternal  blessedness  of  God.  And  then  follows  the  out- 
going of  God's  Love — to  the  whole  universe  which  he  has  created. 
That  he  loves  us,  merely  as  his  creatures,  is  apparent  not  only  in 
the  innumerable  blessings  which  are  bestowed  on  us,  even  when 
we  are  unthankful  and  disobedient ;  but  in  the  bestowment  upou 
us,  when  he  created  us  of  the  most  exalted  rank,  and  a  dominion 
over  all  creatures  ;  and  in  fitting  us  for  our  transcendent  posi- 
tion, by  forming  us  in  his  own  image.  But  all  this,  great  as  it 
is,  is  nothing,  when  compared  with  the  proof  of  his  Love,  in 
bringing  life  and  immortality  to  light,  in  a  new  form,  through 
the  incarnation  and  sacrifice  of  his  only  begotten  Son  :  and  by 
that  means,  dictated  and  executed  in  boundless  Love,  snatching 
us  from  the  perdition  which  we  had  incurred  by  our  hatred  of 
him,  and  of  which  our  pollution  rendered  us  so  deserving.  The 
Love  of  God  for  sinners — and  his  hatred  of  their  sins  ;  his  Love 
of  them,  and  his  hatred  of  all  that  constitutes  them  moral  ob- 
jects, either  of  love  or  hatred  :  this  is  the  grand  paradox  of  the 
spiritual  system  revealed  in  the  sacred  Scriptures — and  which 
even  natural  Keligion,  in  its  degree,  tries  to  hold  up  continually 
before  us.  Human  reason  absolutely  recoils  before  the  solution 
of  that  paradox  :  for,  to  human  reason,  the  opposite  terms  of  it 
seem  to  be  precisely  contradictory  of  each  other. — And  yet, 
both  of  them  are  irrefragably  certain  :  and  yet,  if  both  stand,  the 
result  would  appear  to  be  the  degradation  of  God  in  bestowing 
his  love  on  objects  which  are  unworthy  of  it,  and  which  hate  him 
while  they  profit  by  it ;  and  further  on,  the  righteous  perdition 


CHAP.  XXI.]         MORAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  299 

of  men,  notwithstanding  the  love  of  God. — If  you  will  follow 
that  infuriated  multitude,  which  is  rushing  out  of  the  gates  of 
Jerusalem — you  will  see  God's  solution  of  that  paradox. — They 
knew  not  what  they  did,  that  day,  at  Calvary !  One  sentence 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  explains  it  all :  That  God  might  be  just,  and 
the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus.1 

3.  Of  all  the  perfections  of  God  this,  perhaps,  is  the  one 
which  most  nearly  touches  human  nature.  Not  only  in  that 
unmerited  goodness  manifested  towards  us  with  deep  and  fixed 
Love,  is  the  most  irresistible  appeal  which  can  reach  the  human 
soul,  as  long  as  it  is  open  to  any  appeal  at  all :  but  that  of  all 
the  dim  traces  that  are  left  in  our  fallen  nature  of  any  of  those 
divine  perfections,  in  the  image  of  which  we  were  created,  the 
deepest  and  most  enduring  point  towards  this  attribute  of  God. 
"With  a  power  of  analysis  and  combination  altogether  superhu- 
man, the  whole  duty  of  man  towards  God  is  summed  up  by 
Moses  in  four  propositions  ;  and  his  whole  duty  to  his  fellow 
men,  in  six  propositions  ;  which  are  called,  respectively,  the  first 
and  second  tables  of  the  Law.2  Then  the  Lord  Jesus  has  re- 
duced the  whole  of  the  first  table  to  one  proposition — Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God ;  and  the  whole  of  the  second  table 
to  one  proposition — Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor.3  And  then 
the  Holy  Ghost  has  reduced  these  two  propositions  to  one — love 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.4  Love,  therefore,  rightly  directed  and 
exercised,  is  the  consummation  of  man's  moral  obligations,  and 
secures  the  fruition  of  the  highest  spiritual  estate  which  his  na- 
ture is  capable  of  attaining.  And  even  amidst  the  ruins  of  that 
nature  as  the  Ml  has  left  it,  and  as  sin  has  made  it — this  is  its 
first,  its  deepest,  its  most  absorbing,  and  its  most  imperishable 
force.  While  it  has  the  mastery,  we  are  not  utterly  lost  :  for  a 
loving  nature,  though  a  depraved,  is  still  a  gentle,  noble  and 
true  nature.  But  when  it  is  subverted — and  the  fierce,  cruel, 
bitter  and  vindictive  passions  usurp  the  complete  dominion  of 
the  soul,  the  last  trace  of  the  moral  image  of  God  in  the  human 
affections  has  been  effaced. 

IV. — 1.  Grace,  Mercy  and  Peace,  say  the  Scriptures,  from 
God  our  Father  and  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.5  So  that  peace 
flows  from  mercy,  and  mercy  from  grace.     And  in  another  place, 

1  Rom.,  iii.  26.  "  Exod.,  xx.  3  Mat.,  xxii.  36-39. 

*  Rom.,  xiii.  10.  *  1  Tim.,  i.  2. 


300  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK    III. 

they  carry  us  further  still  :  thus,  after  that  the  kindness  and 
love  of  God  our  Saviour  to  men  appeared,  not  by  works  of 
righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy 
he  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  renewing 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.1  So  that  God's  Goodness  is  the  cause  of  his 
Love — his  love  the  cause  of  his  mercy  ;  his  mercy  the  cause  of 
our  salvation  :  and  thus  salvation  is  the  effect  of  them  all. 

2.  As  the  Goodness  of  God  when  manifested  toward  objects 
considered  in  their  unworthiness,  is  called  grace  ;  and  when 
manifested  toward  objects  considered  in  their  desirableness  to 
God  is  called  Love  :  so  when  that  Goodness  is  manifested  toward 
objects  considered  in  their  misery,  it  is  called  mercy  :  and  finally, 
when  manifested  toward  objects  considered  in  their  guiltiness,  it 
is  called  long-suffering.  Mercy,  therefore,  is  that  divine  pro- 
pension  which  leads  God  to  succor  the  miserable  ;  and  is  attribu- 
ted to  him  throughout  the  Scriptures2  as  an  eternal,  unalterable, 
necessary,  active,  and  free  attribute  of  his  being. 

3.  Amongst  these  Perfections  of  God  which  bear  upon  us  in 
the  most  obvious  manner — and  of  which  the  evidences  are  most 
constant  and  conclusive,  his  mercy  stands  conspicuous.  For 
human  misery  is  an  inheritance  of  the  whole  race,  and  of  every 
individual  of  it — as  broad  as  the  sin  which  produced  it  at  first, 
and  which  is  continually  increasing  its  bitterness.  By  disobe- 
dience came  sin,  and  by  sin  death  ;  and  the  sin  and  the  death 
have  passed  together — through  all  generations  and  with  unfal- 
tering steps,  around  the  circuit  of  the  whole  race.  For  the  sin, 
the  grace  of  God  provides  the  remedy  :  for  the  misery  his 
mercy  offers  the  consolation  and  the  deliverance.  And  in  some 
shape  or  other,  that  mercy  is  exhibited  to  every  creature  that 
suffers — so  long  as  the  creature  has  not  passed  out  of  the  state 
in  which  mercy  is  possible.  But  the  mercy  of  God  flows,  not 
only  from  the  same  Goodness  from  which  his  grace  flows  ;  but, 
also,  from  the  Grace  itself ;  and  Grace  and  Mercy,  both  alike 
have  reference  to  sin — one  regarding  the  unworthiness  of  the 
creature,  and  the  other  regarding  the  misery  which  that  unwor- 
thiness produces.  When,  therefore  the  Grace  of  God  is  clean 
taken  away,  his  mercy  also  is  clean  taken  away  :  for  it  is  only  in 
proportion  as  sin  is  removed  through  grace,  that  the  misery  pro- 
duced by  sin,  can  be  solaced  by  mercy.     Even  the  infinite  mercy 

1  Titus,  iii.  4,  5.  2  2  Cor.,  i.  3 ;  Eph.,  ii.  4 ;  James,  i.  13. 


CHAP.  XXI.]         MORAL     ATTRIBUTES     OF     GOD.  301 

of  God,  could  avail  nothing  in  removing  misery  without  remov- 
ing the  cause  of  it :  and  when  the  cause  of  it,  is  not  only  given 
over  as  irremediable  forever — but  falls  under  the  Justice  of  God, 
under  the  other  aspect  of  sin,  which  we  call  guilt — and  that  even 
beyond  the  Long-suffering  of  God  :  then  it  is  not  only,  so  to 
speak,  essentially  impossible  for  the  mercy  of  God  to  avail  any 
thing  fa-  the  sinning  sufferer  ;  but  any  attempt  to  do  so,  would 
involve  a  direct  conflict  of  the  divine  Attributes. 

4.  For  us  to  object  that  the  mercy  of  God  is  not  manifested 
in  an  equal  degree  to  all  his  creatures,  is  wholly  absurd.  That 
would  be  of  itself  impossible  unless  the  miseries  of  all  were  pre- 
cisely equal,  and  the  destinies  of  all  not  only  uniform,  but  ex- 
actly similar  ;  both  of  which  suppositions  arc  not  only  inconsist- 
ent with  the  frame  of  the  present  universe — but  with  that  of  any 
universe,  that  could  fully  exhibit  the  perfections  of  God.  More- 
over, when  we  consider  that  whatever  mercy  any  of  us  receives 
is,  in  its  very  nature,  just  so  much  goodness  which  we  did  not 
deserve  :  and,  further,  that  the  mercy  of  God,  of  whatever  kind 
and  to  whomsoever  extended,  must  be  exercised  with  relation  to 
the  chief  end  of  his  work  of  creation,  of  providence  and  of  grace, 
and  must  be  put  forth  in  accordance  with  all  the  perfections  of 
his  infinite  being  :  the  folly  of  such  repinings  is  shown  to  be  sur- 
passed only  by  their  presumption. 

5.  To  urge  that  the  mercy  of  God  ought  to  have  led  him  to 
prevent  the  introduction  of  any  suffering  into  the  universe,  or  to 
its  total  extirpation  after  it  had  found  an  entrance,  is  only  say- 
ing, on  the  first  point,  that  God's  mercy  ought  to  deprive  itself 
of  all  possibility  of  making  itself  manifest  in  the  universe,  and 
that  this  ought  to  be  done  in  subordination  to  the  sins  of  men  : 
and,  on  the  second  point,  it  is  only  saying,  that  God  having  failed 
in  his  grand  design  of  such  a  universe  as  he  proposed,  but  could 
not  accomplish,  ought  nowr  by  an  irregular  and  miraculous  inter- 
position to  subvert  the  order,  and  the  event  of  all  things,  and 
cure  such  defects  of  his  plan  and  operation,  as  he  had  not,  at 
first,  foreseen  and  provided  for  :  and  that  all  things  ought  to  be 
done,  by  God,  to  prevent  sin  from  being  followed  by  misery :  the 
whole  of  which  is  impious. 

6.  If  it  be  still  further  alleged — that  God  ought  to  have  pre- 
vented the  introduction  of  sin  itself  into  the  universe — and 
thereby  excluded  the   possibility  of  suffering  :    in  addition  to 


302  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IIL 

what  has  been  said  before,  it  is  obvious  to  reply,  that  this  cavil 
of  infidelity  is  levelled  more  directly  at  natural  Eeligion  than  at 
Christianity  ;  since  sin  and  misery  are  actually  in  God's  world, 
and  Christianity  only  proposes  to  redress  them.  As  a  blasphe- 
mous cavil  against  God  for  having  acted  as  he  has  done  in  the 
matter  of  creation,  providence  and  grace — perhaps  before  we  are 
fully  satisfied  of  our  right  to  make  it — and  thus  to  assail  him  in 
his  being,  and  all  his  attributes,  we  ought  to  reflect  that  God  is 
at  least  as  wise,  as  Powerful,  and  as  Good,  as  an  infidel :  that  he 
is  at  least  as  much  bent  on  the  preservation  of  his  essential  glory, 
and  the  manifestation  of  his  declarative  glory,  as  any  infidel  is  ; 
that  being  such  a  God,  and  working  to  such  an  end,  he  is  as 
likely  to  be  right,  in  the  means  as  any  infidel.  Especially  we 
ought  to  reflect,  that  what  things  are  possible — what  things  are 
best  amongst  those  that  are  possible — and  amongst  the  best  pos- 
sible, which  are  they  that  on  the  whole  God  ought  to  prefer,  are 
matters  he  may  as  well  be  trusted  with  as  any  infidel  :  and  that 
— as  for  us — the  undeniable  facts  of  the  universe, — as  for  exam- 
ple— God,  creation,  and  salvation  on  one  side — and  sin,  misery, 
and  perdition  on  the  other,  had  as  well  be  accepted  as  they  assur- 
edly exist  ;  as  that  we  should  revolt  against  God  because  they 
do  exist  ;  and  accomplish  by  that  revolt,  nothing,  except  one 
more  proof  of  the  things  we  impiously  reject,  and  one  more 
ground  of  the  certainty  and  justice  of  our  perdition — along  with 
every  infidel. 

V. — 1.  The  last  of  the  Perfections  of  God,  which  fall  under 
the  special  aspect  which  I  am  now  considering,  is  his  Long-suf- 
fering. It  is,  as  was  before  observed,  that  exercise  of  his  Good- 
ness, which  leads  him  to  delay  the  execution  of  his  just  judg- 
ments upon  the  guilty.  Amongst  the  fruits  of  it  are  the  Patience 
of  God  with  sinners  :  the  Forbearance  of  God  towards  the  im- 
penitent :  and  his  slowness  to  anger. 

2.  The  Scriptures  abound  with  statements  of  the  existence 
of  this  perfection  in  God  :  and  with  representations  as  to  the 
manner  and  extent  of  its  exercise,  towards  every  fallen  creature. 
He  who  cannot  look  upon  sin  with  the  least  allowance — is  so  far 
from  wishing  sinners  to  perish  in  their  sins — that  he  has  done  all 
that  was  consistent  with  his  divine  perfections,  in  order  to  save 
them  ;  and  then  delayed  the  destruction  upon  which  the  impen- 
itent rush,  to  the  very  uttermost.     There  is  no  human  being  of 


CHAP.  XXI. J         MORAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  303 

whom,  as  we  survey  their  life  and  contemplate  their  nature,  it  is 
not  certain,  that  if  God  had  sought  occasion  against  them,  or 
been  strict  to  mark  iniquity — they  must,  already,  have  been 
consigned  to  remediless  destruction:  and  every  soul  of  man  is 
obliged  to  render  this  verdict  of  itself.  The  extent  to  which  the 
Forbearance  of  God  is  manifested  personally  to  every  human 
creature — could  be  justly  estimated,  only  after  we  knew  the 
number  and  turpitude  of  their  transgressions;  and  could  rightly 
estimate  the  holiness,  the  majesty,  and  the  goodness  of  him, 
against  whom  they  offended;  and  could  fully  appreciate  the  ex- 
tent of  that  necessity  produced  alike  by  the  exigencies  of  the 
universe  itself,  and  by  the  immediate  claims  of  divine  justice, 
that  every  disobedience  of  the  creature  should  receive  a  just 
recompense  of  reward. 

3.  This  immeasurable  Forbearance,  which  is  exercised  toward 
each  individual  in  this  boundless  way — extends  also  to  every  class 
of  persons,  and  to  the  entire  race  of  men.  The  children  of  God 
were  its  objects,  while  they  lived  in  open  sin  ;  and  they  are  still 
its  objects  as  they  strive,  with  an  imperfect  obedience,  to  obey 
God.  The  openly  profane  are  its  objects,  while  their  day  of 
grace  may  be  supposed  to  continue  ;  if  possible,  still  more  so — 
that  they  are  not  cast  into  hell  at  once,  when  that  day  of  grace 
is  done.  The  very  damned  await  till  the  day  of  endless  doom, 
for  the  second  death  to  fall  upon  them,  with  all  its  horrors. 
And  the  redeemed  throughout  every  successive  generation,  find 
the  Long-suffering  of  God  to  be  Salvation1 — not  only  because 
his  goodness  leads  them  to  repentance  ;  but  also  because  but 
for  the  riches  of  his  Long-suffering  and  Forbearance,  he  would 
have  made  a  short  work,  in  righteousness,  long  ago,  of  a  race 
that  having  rejected  him,  crucified  his  Son  ;  and  the  very  exist- 
ence, much  less  the  salvation  of  all  succeeding  generations  would 
have  been  impossible. 

4.  And  now  if,  notwithstanding  such  Long-suffering,  the 
guilty  will  still  rush  upon  destruction;  and  notwithstanding  such 
mercy,  the  miserable  will  continue  to  choose  suffering  instead  of 
repentance  ;  and  notwithstanding  such  grace  sin  must  still 
abound:  what  idea  of  the  depravity  and  perdition  of  ungodly 
men  can  equal  the  reality?  When  the  Grace,  Mercy,  and  Long- 
suffering  of  God,  will  have  been    finally  exhausted — and  the 

1  Rom.,  ii.  4 ;  2  Pet.,  iii.  15. 


304  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [.BOOK  III. 

Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels 
— in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God, 
and  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  who  can 
exaggerate  either  the  terror  or  the  justice  of  that  divine  wrath, 
in  which  they  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction, 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power.1 

VI. — 1.  We  proceed  next  to  consider  the  Justice  of  God. 
Amongst  all  his  Attributes  not  one  is  more  comprehensible  by 
us,  or  more  intimately  and  universally  operative  upon  us.  Mercy 
and  Truth  go  before  his  face:  but  Justice  and  Judgment  are 
the  very  habitation  of  his  throne.2  By  it  the  very  bonds  of  the 
universe  are  kent  together:  and  the  unalterable  distinction  be- 
tween  Eight  and  Wrong — True  and  False — Good  and  Evil,  is 
preserved  and  made  everlastingly  triumphant.  And  as  for  man 
— the  sum  of  all  the  goodness  which  has  been  shown  to  him  by 
the  Lord — and  of  all  the  duty  that  God  requires  of  him,  is  de- 
clared to  be; — that  while  he  must  love  mercy,  and  walk  humbly 
before  God — it  goes  before  both  that  he  must  do  Justice.3 

2.  Justice  may  be  predicated  of  God  in  several  distinct 
senses.  It  is  essential  to  him  as  God:  that  is,  it  is  an  absolute 
Perfection  of  his  nature.  It  belongs  to  him  as  the  Sovereign 
Ruler  of  the  universe:  that  is — independently  of  any  express 
commital  of  himself  in  any  way — his  administration  of  all  created 
things  will  be  spontaneously,  perfectly,  and  universally  just.  It 
also  appertains  to  him  as  the  Judge  of  men  and  angels,  under 
the  actual  system  of  the  universe:  that  is,  he  will  determine,  and 
apply,  with  unalterable  Justice,  the  system  which  exists,  so  that 
every  one  shall  receive  his  exact  clue — and  no  more  and  no  less 
— according  to  its  requirements.  He  is  just,  as  God — just  as 
the  Sovereign  Ruler — just  as  the  Eternal  Judge:  his  justice  is 
Essential — Administrative — Judicial:  and  is  supreme  and  inva- 
riable— in  all  three  of  these  aspects.  Again  :  Justice  itself 
may  be  contemplated  under  two  aspects  :  one,  namely,  special, 
in  which  is  considered  only  that  particular  Attribute  of  God, 
or  that  single  virtue  of  man  ;  the  other,  universal,  in  which 
it  is  embraced  as.  an  element,  or  a  qualification  of  other  per- 
fections of  God,  or  other  virtues  of  man.  For- religion  itself 
is  only  the  just  rendering  to  God  that  which  is  his  ;  and  love 
to  our  parents  is  only  justice  in  that  form  ;  and  justice  itself  is 

1  2  Thes.,  i.  7-9.  a  Ps.  Ixxxix.  14.  3  Micah,  vL  8. 


CHAP    XXI.]         MORAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  305 

but  truth  in  our  actions,  as  truth  is  hut  justice  in  our  words. 
And  again,  special,  or  particular  justice,  may  he  viewed  as  being 
commutative  ;  that  is,  the  perfect  rendering  to  every  one  of 
all  that  duty  requires  to  be  done  ;  and  as  being  distributive, 
that  is  the  righteous  distribution  of  deserved  punishments  and 
rewards  ;  which  two  methods  of  justice,  in  a  public  aspect,  we 
call  civil  and  criminal  justice.  And  again,  if  the  Essential,  the 
Administrative,  and  the  Judicial  Justice  of  God  is  considered  as 
brought  under  the  distinction  of  Justice  into  Special  and  Uni- 
versal ;  the  two  former  kinds  of  his  Justice  would  fall  under  the 
head  of  Universal,  and  the  last  kind,  namely,  his  Judicial  Jus- 
tice, under  the  head  of  particular  Justice  ;  that  is,  of  Justice 
considered  by  itself,  and  as  regulated  by  the  conditions  of  the 
Special  System  under  which  it  is  administered,  and  as  exercised 
merely  in  rewarding  and  punishing,  according  to  that  system, 
every  one  who  is  subject  to  it. 

3.  Justice  is  the  giving  to  every  one  that  which  is  his.  Di- 
vine Justice  is  that  natural  Sanctity  of  God  by  which  he  is  kept 
perfectly  from  all  imperfection,  and  most  perfectly  loves  himself 
and  the  determinations  of  his  own  most  holy  Will.  Nor  is  it, 
in  any  way,  a  different  presentation  to  say,  that  the  divine  Just- 
ice is  divine  Goodness,  tempered  and  administered  by  divine 
Wisdom  :  for,  from  these  two  attributes  combined  and  directed 
upon  every  particular  matter,  with  a  full  view  of  the  whole  uni- 
verse, and  its  great  end,  every  result  would  flow,  that  flows  from 
the  direct  application  of  the  Justice  of  God.  In  the  Adminis- 
trative Justice  of  God,  as  before  defined,  that  is,  his  Justice  as 
the  Ruler  of  the  universe,  this  natural  sanctity  is  specially  ex- 
hibited in  all  his  works  and  all  his  words.  For  when  the  prophet 
saw  his  train  of  angels  filling  the  whole  temple,  and  Seraphim 
cried  to  Seraphim,  "  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,"  they  began  by  a  threefold  ascription  to  him — as  the  holy, 
holy,  holy  Lord  of  Hosts.1  And  among  all  the  grounds  of  that 
boundless  glory,  and  all  the  proofs  of  that  immaculate  holiness, 
the  Justice  of  his  nature,  and  the  Justice  of  his  reign,  shines 
forth  continually  in  every  act  he  performs  and  every  word  he 
utters.  His  work  is  perfect  :  all  his  ways  are  judgment  ;  a  God 
of  truth  and  without  iniquity,  just  and  right  is  he.2  In  all  his 
work  of  creation  ;  in  all  his  arrangement  and  administration  of 

1  Isaiah,  vi.  3.  a  Deut.,  xxxii.  4. 

20 


306  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

his  divine  Providence  overall  things  ;  in  all  the  manifestation  of 
his  nature  and  designs,  in  the  salvation  of  lost  sinners,  through 
the  sacrifice  of  his  only  begotten  Son  ;  he  declares  himself  to 
have  proceeded  with  a  perfect  regard  to  the  claims  of  infinite 
Justice,  whether  considered  in  itself  as  a  perfection  of  his  being, 
or  considered  in  relation  to  his  acts,  as  the  creator,  disposer,  and 
director  of  all  things.  And  the  highest  judgment  of  the  human 
understanding,  and  the  deepest  impulses  of  human  nature,  alike 
conduct  us  to  the  perfect  approbation  of  every  act  of  God  which 
we  are  capable  of  understanding,  and  to  the  most  absolute  trust 
in  his  equity,  in  whatever  things  the  weaknesses  of  our  faculties 
or  the  insufficiency  of  our  knowledge  may  place  beyond  our  ca- 
pacity to  decide.  Our  sense  of  dependence,  which  is  universal  in 
our  race,  is  an  instinctive  testimony  of  our  nature  to  the  being, 
and  the  power  of  God  ;  and,  in  the  same  manner,  our  sense  of 
accountability  is  a  testimony  to  his  dominion  and  his  justice  : 
and  our  sense  of  blameworthiness  is  a  testimony  to  the  perfec- 
tion with  which  the  works  of  God  accord  with  and  respond  to  his 
acts,  and  his  attributes.  For  the  nature  of  man,  because  it  is 
rational  and  accountable,  docs  not  thereby,  the  less,  but  does  the 
more,  live  and  move  and  have  its  being  in  God  ;  and  because  it 
has  become  depraved  it  does  not  thereby  evade,  but  only  changes 
the  aspect  of  God  toward  it.  and  its  response  to  him.  It  must 
be  dreadful  to  human  nature  to  be  condemned  by  God  ;  but,  it 
would  be  scarcely  less  dreadful  to  it,  for  God  to  declare  it  to  be 
innocent,  when  it  knows  itself  to  be  guilty.  It  would  be  dread- 
ful that  the  innoceut  should  be  condemned,  even  through  mis- 
take, or  by  an  act  of  mere  power  irrespective  of  their  innocence  ; 
but  how  much  more  dreadful,  that  they  should  be  condemned 
because  they  were  innocent  ! 

4.  In  like  manner  the  Essential  and  Administrative  Justice 
of  God  involves  the  perfection  of  Truth  in  him,  in  all  he  says  as 
well  as  in  all  he  does  :  for.  as  has  been  already  observed,  justice, 
considered  as  universal,  is.  when  applied  to  our  utterances. 
Truth.  This  Truth  of  God,  when  considered  in  one  aspect,  is 
the  Truth  of  his  Divine  Essence  and  Perfection  ;  that  is,  the 
perfect  conformity  of  the  essence  of  God  with  the  divine  concep- 
tion of  itself;  and  of  every  perfection  with  every  other,  and  with 
the  divine  essence,  and  with  the  divine  conception  of  it.  And 
again,  considered  in  another  respect,  the  Truth  of  God's  Intel- 


CHAP.  XXI.]         MORAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  307 

lect  is  such  that  there  is  a  perfect  conformity  between  his  con- 
ception of  all  things  and  objects  about  which  it  is  exercised  and 
the  things  and  objects  themselves  ;  so  that  all  things  must  neces- 
sarily and  infallibly  be  known  to  God  precisely  as  they  are.  And 
again,  considered  in  another  point  of  view,  the  Truth  of  God  pro- 
hibits the  possibility  of  all  error,  falsehood,  mistake,  deception, 
and  trifling  with  his  rational  creatures,  in  every  manifestation  of 
himself,  by  word  or  act.  For  while  the  truth  of  his  creatures  is, 
like  their  being,  contingent,  so  that  they  may  be  untrue  in  word 
and  act,  and  their  essence  remain  ;  the  Truth  of  God  is  essential, 
and  therefore  immutable  and  eternal,  and  can  no  more  not  be 
than  he  cannot  be.  In  the  first  aspect  of  the  Truth  of  God  we 
may  call  it  Metaphysical,  in  the  second  Logical,  and  in  the 
third  Ethical.  It  is  impossible,  therefore,  in  every  view  we  can 
take  of  the  subject,  that  any  manifestation  which  God  makes  of 
himself,  and  of  all  things,  could  be  otherwise  than  infallibly  true 
and  certain,  that  is  infallibly  conformed  with  the  divine  mind, 
and  with  the  things  themselves  ;  and  this  is  most  especially  the 
case  with  the  Revelation  he  has  made  of  himself,  and  which  is 
to  so  great  an  extent  the  foundation  on  which  his  judicial  justice 
is  administered  ;  which,  also,  the  Scriptures  continually  assert 
in  the  most  explicit  terms.  The  Lord  is  the  true  God,  he  is 
the  living  God,  and  an  everlasting  King  :'  this  is  the  life  eternal, 
that  they  might  know  thee,  the  only  true  God ;"  to  serve  the 
living  and  true  God.3  And  we  know  that  the  Son  of  God  is 
come,  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding,  that  we  may  know 
him  that  is  true :  and  we  are  in  him  that  is  true,  even  in  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ.     This  is  the  true  God,  and  eternal  life.4 

5.  Particular  Justice,  that  is,  justice  considered  of  itself, 
when  viewed  in  its  Commutative  sense,  namely,  under  the  notion 
of  rendering  to  every  one  according  to  the  obligations  binding  on 
us,  can  be  applied  to  God  only  in  a  metaphorical  sense ;  for  the 
idea  of  duty  or  obligation  is  strictly  inapplicable  to  God.  But 
particular  Justice,  in  its  Distributive  sense — the  rendering  of 
rewards  and  punishments  as  they  are  merited — applies  to  him  in 
the  most  eminent  sense ;  for  he  is  not  only  the  infinite  Judge, 
but  he  is  the  infinite  Lawgiver,  who  has  established  every  code, 
by  means  of  which  justice  can  be  judicially  administered  in 
things  pertaining  to  himself;  and  he  is,  moreover,  the  infinitely 

1  Jer.,  x.  10.  *  John,  xvii.  3.  3  1  Thes.,  i.  9.  *  1  John,  v.  20. 


308  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

just  Ruler,  whose  laws  thus  made,  and  thus  judicially  applied, 
find  in  him  the  executor  of  their  eternal  sanctions.  Nor  is  there 
any  possibility  of  avoiding  this  result  upon  the  supposition  of 
the  existence  of  God,  and  of  creatures  like  ourselves  ;  for  in  the 
veiy  act  of  our  creation,  in  the  nature  of  our  very  being,  and  in 
the  conditions  upon  which  our  existence  is  continued,  there  occur 
of  necessity  relations  between  God  and  us  which  involve  what 
we  call  the  Laws  of  Nature,  of  which  God  is  the  only  Author, 
and  which  he  must  administer  or  cease  to  be  God.  The  first 
point  immediately  before  us  is,  that  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
case  these  laws  cannot  hut  be  just,  and  justly  administered  ;  and 
the  next  point  is,  that,  under  any  circumstances,  the  just  admin- 
istration of  any  law  is  wholly  impossible,  except  by  means  of 
what  is  tantamount  to  their  judicial  application  ;  that  is,  to  the 
complete  consideration  of  them,  as  applied  to  the  particular 
cases  that  arise  under  them,  and  the  just  application  of  the  rule 
to  the  case.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  from  the  very  nature  of 
God,  of  the  case,  and  of  justice  itself,  it  cannot  but  be  that  every 
transgression  and  disobedience  must  receive  a  just  recompense  of 
reward  ;  and  every  right  action  must  be  approved  by  God.  In- 
dependently of  any  special  Covenant,  or  Law,  or  Revelation  from 
God,  the  conditions  upon  which  the  universe  exists,  reveal  to  us 
the  necessary  and  eternal  dominion  of  unalterable  justice;  not 
instant  in  its  application  it  may  be,  but  sure  and  immaculate. 

6.  Taking  the  Scriptures  as  true,  it  has  pleased  God  to  bind 
himself  to  man,  and  man  to  him — by  two  covenants — widely 
different  from  each  other — and  both  of  them  independent,  in 
their  origin  and  obligation,  of  the  law  of  nature,  of  which  I  have 
been  speaking.  The  first  of  these,  called  the  Covenant  of  Works, 
was  made  with  man  in  his  state  of  innocency  ;  the  second,  called 
the  Covenant  of  Grace,  was  revealed  to  man,  and  applied  for  his 
deliverance  after  his  fall ;  but  was,  as  to  its  absolute  nature  and 
origin,  a  covenant  from  eternity,  between  the  persons  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  for  the  salvation  of  man,  in  his  foreseen  condition 
of  ruin  by  the  fall.  The  particular  discussion  of  either  of  these 
covenants  would  be  out  of  place  here.  What  is  to  be  considered 
at  present  is,  that  it  was  impossible  for  either  of  them  to  change 
in  the  least  particular,  any  Perfection  of  God,  or  to  make  him 
known  to  us,  or  bind  him  to  us,  in  any  way  that  was  inconsistent 
with  his  Being  and  his  Attributes.     In  particular,  as  applicable 


CHAP.  XXI.]         MORAL    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  309 

to  the  matter  immediately  before  us,  the  conditions  of  both  these 
covenants,  are  of  necessity  obliged  to  be  unalterably  just.  To 
be  so;  neither  of  them  could  possibly  permit  sin  to  go  unpun- 
ished, or  possibly  deprive  righteousness  of  its  reward ;  and  the 
administration,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  both  of  them,  must  be 
perfectly  just.  Many  points  of  great  intricacy  must  be  expected 
to  arise  in  the  details  of  questions  so  vast  in  their  compass,  and 
so  boundless  in  their  application  ;  but  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples are  clear  aud  may  be  comprehended  by  every  one.  These, 
as  we  shall  the  more  plainly  see  as  we  the  more  carefully  exam- 
ine, are  not  only  clearly  recognized  in  both  of  God's  covenants 
with  respect  to  man.  and  in  every  part  of  his  blessed  word  ;  but 
are  made  the  basis  of  all  his  methods  of  dealing  with  men  and 
angels — throughout  every  dispensation. 

7.  So  deep  and  unalterable  are  these  foundations  of  eternal 
justice,  that  even  after  the  covenant  of  works  had  ceased,  by  its 
breach,  to  be  a  covenant  of  life  ;  this  did  not  hinder  it  from  being 
a  covenant  of  death — to  the  whole  family  of  man  ;  for  every  one 
had  incurred  its  fearful  curse  and  penalty.  And  even  when  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption  would  restore  man  to  the  lost  image 
and  favor  of  God  ;  not  a  jot  nor  a  tittle  of  that  eternal  justice 
of  God  could  be  abated.  If  Christ  will  reap  the  glory — even  he 
must  take  the  humiliation  and  endure  the  agony.  God  must  be 
just  while  he  justifies  the  ungodly.  Considered  iu  whatever  light, 
there  is  no  proper  necessity  that  God  should  save  sinners.  But 
if  he  graciously  wills  to  do  it,  there  is  a  strict  necessity  that  he 
should  do  it  justly.  And  that  is  the  problem,  of  which  there 
was  no  solution,  but  the  incarnation  and  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of 
God.  If  this  universe,  and  every  creature  in  it,  had  perished— 
another  universe — nay,  many  more — under  the  same  or  under 
other  auspices,  might  have  replaced  it.  But  what  could  efface  a 
stain  upon  the  tarnished  justice  of  God  ? 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

CONSUMMATE  ATTRIBUTES   OF   GOD :    SUCH  AS  APPERTAIN  TO   HIM 
CONSIDERED  AS  THE  SUM  OF  ALL  INFINITE  PERFECTIONS. 

I.  Nature  of  the  Attributes  of  the  Fifth  Class. — II.  The  Life  of  God :  and  its  Infinite 
activity  and  unwasting  Fulness. — III.  The  Majesty  of  God. — TV.  Omnipresence 
of  God. — Y.  AU-sufficiency  of  God. — VI.  Oneness  of  God. — VII.  The  Blessedness 
of  God.  The  participation  of  this  is  attainable  by  man :  but  only  through  the 
Knowledge  of  God. — VIII.  Method,  and  Spiritual  insight :  God,  and  Salvation. 

I.  There  remains  to  be  considered  another  great  class  of  the 
Attributes  of  God,  which  in  our  mode  of  conceiving  things  must 
be  distinguished  from  each  of  the  classes  heretofore  treated  of. 
I  call  them  Consummate  Attributes.  Their  peculiar  character- 
istic, upon  which  I  base  their  place  and  name  in  the  classification 
I  have  adopted  is,  that  they  must  be  contemplated,  in  order  to 
be  properly  understood,  as  connected  immediately  with  all  the 
other  perfections  of  God.  This  may  occur  either  by  considering 
them  as  results  of  all  the  rest  united,  or  as  the  common  matrix 
of  them  all :  according  as  one  or  other  method  of  treating  the 
subject  is  proposed.  Thus  occupying  a  peculiar  relation  to  all 
the  other  Perfections  of  God,  and  by  consequence  to  the  universe, 
they  afford  the  ground  of  a  distinction,  and  so  of  a  classification, 
and  thus  of  knowledge  of  God's  adorable  nature  :  which  knowl- 
edge is  the  proper  end  of  all  such  enquiries. 

II.  The  first  of  these  in  logical  order,  is  the  Life  of  God,  and 
the  infinite  activity  which  appertains  to  that  Life.  The  Scrip- 
tures express  nothing  concerning  God,  more  earnestly,  than  that 
he  is  the  living  God  :  and  I  have  several  times  directed  atten- 
tion to  those  remarkable  testimonies — and  to  the  method  of  their 
general  truth,  in  the  beiog  of  God.  But  there  is  an  aspect  in 
which  this  Consummate  perfection  of  God  ought  to  be  contem- 
plated, more  exalted  than  has  hitherto  been  suggested.  Of  all 
the  perfections  of  the  divine  nature,  the  whole  universe  is  made 


.    CHAP.  XXII.]      CONSUMMATE    ATTKIBUTES    OF    GOD.         311 

partaker  of  the  fruits  of  this  in  a  manner  the  most  universal — the 
most  copious,  and  the  most  enduring.  The  vital  action  in  God  is 
the  infinite  power  of  the  infinite  essence  of  God.  In  it  is  the  liv- 
ing force  of  every  other  Attribute  of  his  nature  ;  and  its  activity  is 
the  source  of  every  manifestation  of  himself,  and  therefore  of  all 
creation — all  providence,  and  all  grace.  In  every  created  thing, 
life  according  to  its  kind,  is  the  first  blessing  that  God  can 
bestow  and  the  foundation  of  every  subsequent  blessing.  What- 
3ver  exists  has  its  being  in  him  :  whatever  rising  higher  so  ex- 
ists as  to  move — as  the  Scriptures  express  it — also  has  its  being 
in  him  :  and  rising  higher  still — whatever  so  exists  that  we  may 
say  specifically  it  lives — that  too  has  its  being  in  God.  The 
whole  universe  lives,  moves,  and  has  its  being  in  him.  From 
the  clod  of  the  valley  with  all  its  properties,  up  through  those 
wondrous  forces  which  pervade  the  universe  in  a  form  non- 
vital  ;  and  that  living  power  which  sustains  the  inanimate  crea- 
tion ;  and  that  vital  principle  which  fills  the  earth  with  living 
creatures — to  its  highest  known  form,  in  the  endless  life  of  man  : 
all,  without  exception,  as  without  stint,  and  without  exhaustion, 
either  in  its  source  or  in  its  manifestation,  is  an  emanation  from 
the  living  God — and  an  unbroken  and  immeasurable  outpouring 
of  goodness  and  power  and  wisdom,  reaching  from  the  unfathom- 
able depths  of  the  past,  fructifying  the  whole  universe,  and 
sweeping  onward  to  eternity  !  What  an  idea  does  it  give  us  of 
God,  to  know  that  all  this  required  only  that  he  should  speak 
and  it  was  done  :  and  that,  in  all  its  utmost  glory  and  beauty, 
and  strength,  if  he  were  but  to  utter  the  word,  it  would  all  pass 
away? 

III.  In  the  midst  of  this  boundless  manifestation  of  the  Life 
of  God  and  of  its  fruits,  we  are  to  consider  what  idea  we  can  form 
of  him,  as  of  the  being  to  whom  all  that  exists  appertains,  by  ab- 
solute and  illimitable  Eight  and  Dominion.  The  being  who  made 
all  things,  who  owns  all  things,  who  rules  all  things,  who  in  his  sov- 
ereign, illimitable  and  irresistible  sway,  is  unto  himself,  the  rule, 
as  well  as  the  cause,  and  the  end.  That  which  we  know  of  all 
that  we  behold,  is  but  the  smallest  part  of  what  may  be  known. 
And  all  that  we  behold,  may  be  the  smallest  part  of  all  that  exists. 
And  all  that  can  exist,  is  but  as  nothing  compared  with  him,  in 
whom  it  all  lives,  and  to  whom  it  all  appertains,  by  ways,  the 
completeness  and  imperial  absoluteness  of  which  nothing  in  the 


312  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III.    fc 

universe  can  do  more  than  faintly  illustrate.  Conceive  of  the  na- 
ture of  a  dominion  like  this,  whether  in  its  extent  or  its  essential  na- 
ture ;  and  then  conceive  of  him,  who  has  title  to  it,  and  whose  per- 
fections fit  him  to  exert  it,  in  a  way  supremely  glorious  to  himself. 
After  that  we  may  have  some  faint  idea  of  the  perfection  of  Do- 
minion which  belongs  to  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  and  which,  hecause 
we  cannot  better  express  it,  we  may  call  the  Majesty  of  God. 

IV.  We  are  also  to  consider  that  this  Living  God,  with  this 
Infinite  Dominion,  is  of  that  nature  which  we  express  by  saying, 
he  is  at  every  instant  present  with  every  object  and  at  every 
point  throughout  the  whole  universe.  Each  particular  thing  is 
as  completely  subject  to  his  personal  supervision,  as  if  it  alone 
existed  in  the  universe  ;  and  the  whole  universe  is  as  completely 
taken  in  by  his  all-pervading  presence,  as  if  he  regarded  nothing 
but  its  general  frame  and  order.  He  is  an  Omnipresent  God. 
It  is  thus  that  the  infallible  exercise  of  his  omnipotence  can  be 
rightly  directed,  on  the  one  hand  to  all  the  subordinate  ends  of 
his  eternal  counsel,  and  on  the  other  to  the  great  end,  unto 
which  all  things  are  required,  by  his  infinite  Avill,  to  tend  con- 
tinually. It  is  thus  that  the  infinite  Intelligence,  Will,  Power, 
Knowledge,  Wisdom,  Goodness  and  Justice  of  God,  pervade 
with  the  distinctness  of  a  personal  presence,  the  entire  universe. 
It  is  thus  that  his  Simplicity,  Eternity  and  Immensity,  forbid 
the  idea  of  place  or  time  to  him  at  all,  in  any  sense,  except  that 
of  an  eternal  and  inscrutable  omnipresence. 

V.  In  immediate  connection  with  this  consummate  Attribute 
of  God,  by  means  of  which  all  his  perfections  are  in  a  manner 
concentrated  ;  there  is  another  divine  perfection,  in  which  we 
conceive  of  God,  in  one  view,  as  competent  to  all  that  is  brought 
into  immediate  contact  with  him  by  his  omnipresence.  He  is 
the  All-sufficient  God.  Infinitude  is  the  characteristic  of  his 
nature,  of  each  separate  perfection,  and  of  the  combination  of 
every  perfection  in  him,  considered  as  a  personal  God.  With- 
out effort,  without  distraction  of  mind,  without  confusion  or 
hesitation  in  working,  without  limitation  of  Power,  or  defect  of 
Wisdom,  or  doubt  of  Justice,  or  failure  of  Goodness,  or  wavering 
of  Counsel  ;  a  supereminent  perfection  is  in  him.  As  he  lives, 
as  he  exerts  his  illimitable  Dominion,  as  he  is  omnipresent,  thus 
living  and  thus  ruling  :  so  ho  is  All-sufficient,  supereminently 
Perfect.     Whatever  perfection  there  is  in  the  universe,  is  but  an 


CHAP.  XXII.]      CONSUMMATE    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.         313 

emanation — a  shadow — of  the  perfection,  that  is  consummate  in 
God.  All-sufficient  to  himself,  all-sufficient  to  every  creature, 
all-sufficient  to  every  end  in  all  things  :  so  immeasurably  does 
he  transcend  all  occasions,  and  all  existences  exterior  to  himself, 
that  the  very  distinctions  by  which  we  determine  all  things,  are 
lost  in  him.  To  him  nothing  is  either  great  or  small :  and  to 
number  the  hairs  of  our  head,  to  feed  the  young  ravens  when 
they  cry  unto  him,  and  to  adorn  the  lilies  of  the  valley  ;  or  to 
create,  and  order,  and  rule,  and  sustain,  and  bless,  and  punish, 
principalities  and  thrones  and  hierarchies,  visible  and  invisible 
— with  all  the  exalted  interests  and  complications  they  exhibit ; 
are — to  him — considered  in  themselves — works  that  are  alike 
easy,  alike  difficult  ;  and  considered  with  reference  to  him,  are 
alike  great,  alike  small.  Every  measure  by  which  such  things 
can  be  determined,  passes  out  of  us — and  is  lost  in  the  Infini- 
tude, and  All-sufficiency,  and  supereminent  perfection  of  God. 

YI.  And  as  the  sum  and  end  of  all,  these  two  results  follow 
by  inevitable  necessity,  namely  :  The  Oneness — Uniqueness  of 
God,  and  his  Infinite  Blessedness.  For  God,  as  has  been  shown, 
possesses  all  possible  perfections,  in  the  most  absolute  manner 
and  in  the  highest  possible  degree.  But  if  more  than  one  such 
Being  is  proposed,  the  two  must  diner  in  some  way  from  each 
other ;  in  which  case  one  of  them  cannot  be  infinite  in  all  his 
perfections  :  or  they  must  be  exactly  alike  ;  in  which  case,  it  is 
not  in  fact  two,  but  only  one  whose  image  has  been  twice  re- 
peated, that  we  conceive  of;  for  an  infinitely  perfect  being  can- 
not lack  unity  any  more  than  any  other  perfection.  And  nothing 
but  God  can  be  absolutely  perfect.  There  may  be  an  infinite 
variety  of  all  other  existences,  and  an  infinite  number  of  each. 
But  God  is  infinitely  perfect  ;  so  that  there  can  be  but  one  God. 

VII.  The  infinite  Felicity  of  God  is  continually  declared  to 
us  throughout  the  Scriptures.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  conceive 
how  it  could  be  otherwise.  For  in  him  there  is  a  continual  du- 
ration of  his  blessedness  ;  an  uninterrupted  and  absolute  fruition 
of  the  very  highest  perfections  ;  the  constant  and  perfect  intui- 
tion of  himself — and  of  all  his  perfections  ;  the  absolute  fruition 
of  all — always  and  altogether  ;  the  infinite  All-sufficiency  of 
himself,  his  absolute  Independency  of  all  things  exterior  to  him- 
self!  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  that  his  Blessedness  should 
not  be  perfect,  or  that  it  should  ever  be  interrupted,  or  that  it 


314  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

could  be  otherwise  than  infinite  and  eternal.  It  was  a  partici- 
pation of  this  Blessedness  which  God  proposed  for  man,  and  for 
which  he  fitted  him  in  his  original  creation.  It  is  a  still  more 
exalted  participation  of  it,  which  he  proposes  to  fit  him  for,  and 
restore  him  to  the  fruition  of,  by  that  Great  Salvation  which  is  in 
Jesus  Christ.  As  the  Knowledge  of  himself  is  the  fundamental 
condition  of  the  perfect  and  eternal  Blessedness  of  God  ;  so  the 
Knowledge  of  God  lies  at  the  very  root  of  all  blessedness  in  the 
creature ;  how  much  more  in  the  ruined  creature,  whom  it  is 
purposed  to  restore  !  And  we  know  that  the  Son  of  God  is 
come,  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding  that  we  may  know 
him  that  is  true  ;  and  we  are  in  him  that  is  true,  even  in  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ.     This  is  the  True  Gocl,  and  eternal  life.1 

VIII.  In  concluding  a  subject  so  immense  and  so  difficult,  1 
may  be  allowed  to  refer  distinctly  to  the  Classification  of  the 
Attributes  of  God,  proposed  and  discussed  in  the  Seventeenth 
chapter.  If  what  has  been  advanced  in  the  five  chapters  which 
succeed  that  one,  can  be  considered  a  just  and  true  outline  of  the 
most  intricate  part  of  all  knowledge  ;  then  the  analysis  upon 
which  that  classification  rests,  must  be  allowed  to  be  so  far  com- 
prehensive and  exhaustive  of  the  vast  subject,  as  to  furnish  the 
diligent  student  of  the  Scriptures  with  important  suggestions  in 
his  endeavors  to  reduce  to  a  clear  and  simple  method,  its  sub- 
lime revelations  touching  the  nature  of  the  true  God.  What  is 
supposed  to  be  gained  is,  a  more  exact  knowledge  of  Gocl,  which 
is  the  highest  of  all  knowledge,  by  means  of  a  more  exact  method, 
founded  upon  distinctions  wdiich  as  to  the  divine  nature  are  per- 
fectly obvious,  and  as  to  our  nature  are  in  accordance  with  its 
fundamental  laws.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  upon  such  a 
subject  as  this,  a  just  method  is  next  in  importance  to  a  strict 
adherence  to  revealed  truth  ;  if  indeed  either  is  possible  with- 
out the  other.  As  to  the  knowledge  itself,  it  is  decisive  concern- 
ing all  systematic  acquaintance  with  the  plan  of  Salvation.  The 
declarative  glory  of  God  is  the  very  end  of  Salvation  ;  as  it  is  of 
every  thing  in  the  created  universe  ;  and  the  display  of  the  na- 
ture and  perfections  of  God,  is  the  method  of  that  glory.  Who- 
ever has  the  very  least  idea  of  the  way  in  which  God  saves  sin- 
ners, has  a  corresponding  idea  of  the  Nature  and  Perfections  of 
God.     Whoever  has  the  most  perfect  conception  of  all  that  is 

1  1  John,  v.  20. 


CHAP.  XXII.]      CONSUMMATE     ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.         315 

involved  in  the  salvation  of  sinners,  has  the  most  complete  knowl- 
edge of  the  Nature  and  Perfections  of  God.  It  is  on  that  very 
account  that  it  is  so  much  easier  to  attain  a  certain  knowledge 
of  God  through  the  practical  operations  of  his  grace,  than 
through  the  abstract  contemplation  of  himself.  And  it  is  on 
the  very  same  account  that  the  absolute  comprehension  of  his 
Word,  is  no  more  possible  than  the  absolute  comprehension  of 
himself.  Without  a  spiritual  insight,  no  true  Knowledge  either 
of  God,  or  of  Salvation,  is  possible.  With  a  spiritual  insight, 
no  other  limit  can  be  put  to  the  knowledge  we  may  attain  of 
both — except  that  it  cannot  be  absolutely  complete. 


THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD, 

OBJECTIVELY    CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT   OF   THE  FOURTH  BOOK. 

The  three  preceding  Books  have  had  for  their  particular  subject  respectively, 
Man — The  God-Man — and  God.  In  a  certain  sense  the  objective  knowledge 
of  God  unto  salvation  is  fully  attained,  when  we  clearly  understand  what  is  in- 
volved in  those  three  conceptions.  But  that  very  knowledge  of  God  is  an  ob- 
ject of  scrutiny  of  transcendent  interest :  and  that,  whether  we  consider  its 
absolute  nature,  its  precise  extent,  its  source,  or  our  manner  of  obtaining  it. 
This  Fourth  Book  is  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  that  sublime  topic.  The 
Twenty-Third  Chapter,  which  is  the  First  of  this  Book,  contains  a  general  sur- 
vey of  the  whole  matter  of  our  knowledge  of  God,  and  establishes  the  reality 
of  it,  the  nature  of  it,  and  the  method  by  which  it  is  attainable :  and  as  the 
result  demonstrates  that  God  may,  and  does,  manifest  liimself  to  our  Intelli- 
gence as  an  object  of  certain  knowledge ;  that  he  does  tins  after  a  Natural 
Method,  in  Creation  and  Providence :  after  a  Supernatural  Method  in  the  In- 
carnation and  the  Work  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  and  after  a  Method  combining 
both  the  preceding,  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures  and  in  the  human  soul  as  created 
and  renewed  in  Ins  own  image ;  and  then  proves  that  except  by  these  Three 
Methods,  and  except  by  the  Six  applications  of  them,  two  under  each  Method, 
God  does  not  manifest  liimself  to  human  Intelligence,  and  is  not  an  object  of 
knowledge  to  man.  The  Six  following  Chapters  are  devoted  to  a  thorough 
discussion  of  those  Six  Manifestations  of  God,  considered  with  special  reference 
to  the  knowledge  they  afford  us  concerning  him.  The  Twenty-Fourth  Chapter, 
which  is  the  Second  of  this  Book,  is  devoted  to  the  Knowledge  of  God,  as  the 
Creator  of  all  things,  derived  from  the  knowledge  of  his  "Works,  considered  as 
manifestations  of  himself:  wherein  the  fundamental  truth  of  the  creation  of  the 
universe  is  demonstrated,  and  the  perpetual  presence  of  the  Creator  shown : 
the  method  and  sum  of  our  knowledge  of  God  through  his  works,  is  developed : 
the  relation  of  this  knowledge  of  God  to  all  other  knowledge  of  him,  and  the 
paramount  authority  of  this  primeval  manifestation  of  God,  are  pointed  out; 
and  the  abnormal  condition  of  the  created  universe,  arising  from  the  introduc- 
tion of  Sin,  and  its  Remedy,  is  pointed  out,  and  the  solution  of  this  great  problem 
given.  In  the  Twenty-Fifth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Third  of  this  Book,  the 
whole  subject  of  the  Infinite  Dominion  of  God,  as  exhibited  in  the  method,  and 


318       ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FOURTH  BOOK. 

course,  and  end  of  Divine  Providence,  is  developed  as  a  source  of  our  knowledge 
of  God,  manifested  in  liis  sublime  control  of  all  things  :  wherein,  amongst  other 
things,  the  relations  of  Providence  to  every  other  manifestation  of  God,  are  dis- 
cussed :  the  relation  of  the  will  of  God  executed  in  Providence,  to  the  will  of 
God  revealed  in  his  Word,  is  specially  illustrated  :  the  point  of  view  from  which 
all  Providence  is  unfolded  by  God  is  pointed  out :  the  sublime  illustration  of 
Providence  in  the  career  of  the  Messianic  kingdom,  is  detailed :  the  God  and 
the  system  revealed  in  Providence  are  shown  to  be  identical  with  the  God 
and  the  system  revealed  in  creation,  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  in  human 
reason :  and  in  conclusion,  the  relation  of  Providence  to  the  invisible  world  is 
disclosed :  and  therein,  the  whole  question  of  Angels  and  departed  Spirits,  as 
objects  and  agents  of  divine  Providence,  is  briefly  discussed.  The  two  pre- 
ceding Chapters  are  thus  devoted  to  the  only  two  examples  that  exist  whereby 
God  manifests  himself  to  our  Intelligence,  by  a  method  purely  natural :  that  is, 
purely  within  the  sphere  of  our  Intelligence,  according  to  the  purely  natural 
use  of  the  faculties  with  which  we  are  endowed.  While  the  two  Chapters 
which  immediately  follow,  are  devoted  to  the  only  two  examples  which  exist 
whereby  God  manifests  himself  to  our  Intelligence  by  a  method  purely  super- 
natural :  that  is,  purely  without  the  natural  sphere  of  our  faculties,  and  abso- 
lutely demanding  a  supernatural  influence  upon  us,  in  order  to  their  just  and 
full  appreciation.  The  Twenty-Sixth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Fourth  of  this 
Book,  discusses  the  whole  matter  of  the  Word  made  Flesh — God  manifest  in 
human  nature  :  and  therein,  the  spiritual  system,  both  of  God  and  of  the  uni- 
verse, of  which  that  conception  is  the  ruling  idea,  is  disclosed  :  the  origin  of  the 
conception,  its  progress  through  all  time,  and  its  influence  upon  all  other 
knowledge  of  God,  and  upon  all  possible  systems  of  belief,  are  exhibited :  the 
utter  impossibility  of  saving  sinners,  explicating  the  Scriptures,  or  comprehend- 
ing the  mode  of  the  Divine  Existence  revealed  therein,  without  this  conception, 
is  set  forth  :  the  sum  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  attainable  through  his  Incarna- 
tion is  attempted  to  be  appreciated,  and  this  shown  to  be  the  culminating 
point :  and  the  unavoidable  certainty  and  irresistible  force  of  this  method  of  the 
knowledge  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ,  are  demonstrated.  The  Twenty- 
Seventh  Chapter,  which  is  the  Fifth  of  this  Book,  is  devoted  to  the  Knowledge 
of  God  attainable  through  the  manifestation  of  himself  in  the  New  Creation — 
that  is,  in  the  whole  work  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  this  being  an  example  of  the 
supernatural  method  in  which  the  Divine  Person  especially  contemplated,  to 
wit,  the  Spirit,  is  as  thoroughly  distinct  from  human  nature,  as  the  Divine  Per- 
son of  the  Son  in  the  preceding  example,  is  thoroughly  united  with  it :  and 
herein  the  mode  of  the  Divine  Existence,  and  the  influence  thereof  upon  the 
way  of  Salvation,  and  upon  the  method  of  Divine  Manifestation,  are  explained  : 
the  nature  of  the  New  Creation — of  the  work  of  the  Spirit  therein — of  the 
posture  of  the  universe  when  it  begins — of  its  progress,  epoch  by  epoch,  from 
Adam  to  the  Millennial  Glory,  with  the  sum  of  the  results  in  the  Avay  of  knowl- 
edge at  each  epoch — is  stated  in  detail :  and  in  a  special  manner  the  wonderful 
working  of  the  Spirit  ae  the  Author  of  the  New  Creation,  is  developed  with 
reference  to  Christ  the  head  of  that  creation — in  the  constitution  of  the  person 
of  Immanuel — in  his  perpetual   presence    with   the    Mediator  in   his   whole 


ARGUMENT    OF    THE    FOURTH    BOOK.  319 

estate  of  Humiliation — in  his  creation  of  the  mystical  Body  of  Christ,  the 
Church  of  the  Living  God,  and  every  member  thereof;  the  whole  being  an 
outline  of  the  way  of  salvation,  from  that  point  of  view,  as  objective  knowl- 
edge. Both  the  purely  natural  and  the  purely  supernatural  methods,  and  the 
entire  examples  under  each,  of  the  Manifestations  of  God,  being  thus  passed 
through;  the  two  succeeding  Chapters  discuss  the  third  method,  which  is  a 
combination  of  the  two  methods  already  explained  ;  under  which  third  method, 
;..-•  under  each  of  the  others,  but  two  examples  have  ever  been  applied  by  God 
— both  of  which  are  subjected  to  a  careful  scrutiny.  In  the  Twenty-Eighth 
Chapter,  which  is  the  Sixth  of  this  Book,  the  special  object  of  consideration 
is  God  manifested  in  Revelation — the  God  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures:  wherein 
an  attempt  is  made  to  appreciate  the  Sacred  Scriptures  under  the  conception 
of  their  sublime  unity,  as  the  Institutes  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  composed  by 
the  Holy  Ghost — explicating  the  kingdom  in  its  origin,  progress,  and  triumph 
under  a  threefold  aspect ;  to  wit,  as  the  Messianic  kingdom,  with  Christ  as 
its  King  and  Lord,  and  the  world  in  hostility  to  it;  as  the  New  Creation 
of  which  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  Author  and  Christ  the  Head ;  and  as  the 
Church  of  God  held  forth  in  the  members  thereof,  who  are  the  brethren  of 
Christ,  and  the  children  of  God:  that  they  are  expressly  a  Divine  Treatise 
concerning  God — developed  around  the  Person  of  Immanuel — with  the  power 
of  perfect  truth,  and  the  efficacy  of  an  infallible  method — and  that  their  divine 
origin  and  authority  are  inevitably  certain.  The  Twenty-Ninth  Chapter,  which 
is  the  Seventh  and  last  of  this  Book,  is  occupied  with  the  consideration  of  the 
human  soul,  as  created  and  recreated  in  the  image  of  God,  and  as  being  a  mani- 
festation to  itself  in  its  own  conscious  existence,  of  him  in  whose  likeness  it 
was  both  made  and  renewed  :  and  herein  is  a  careful  scrutiny  into  human 
nature,  in  its  original  and  in  its  fallen  state — in  its  fundamental  unity  and  bound- 
less diversity — in  its  rational,  moral,  and  spiritual  aspects — analytically  and  his- 
torically— the  sum  of  all  being,  that  the  soul  knows  itself,  and  in  so  doing 
knows  God  manifested  in  the  created  and  self-conscious  image  of  himself;  and 
still  further,  there  is  a  careful  scrutiny  of  the  question  of  Life,  considered  with 
special  reference  to  the  new  Birth — of  the  question  of  the  image  of  God  in  un- 
fallen,  depraved,  and  restored  man — of  the  question  of  Regeneration,  with  its 
nature  and  effects :  and  the  result  upon  the  soul  is  shown  to  be  a  higher  and 
surer  knowledge  both  of  itself  and  of  God :  as  inevitable  upon  the  data  proved 
— and  augmented  at  every  step  by  the  agencies  employed  by  God,  the  methods 
used  by  God,  and  the  effects  produced  through  both  in  the  Renewal  and  Sanc- 
tification  of  the  Soul :  doubly  therefore,  the  renewed  soul,  in  its  own  conscious 
nee,  knowing  itself,  knows  him  whose  image  it  is,  and  who  manifests 
himself  both  in  its  creation  and  in  its  regeneration.  A  great  multitude  of 
questions,  covering  in  the  aggregate  a  boundless  field  of  enquiry,  speculation, 
and  knowledge,  are  involved  more  or  lesa  directly  in  the  matter  discussed  in 
this  Book.  Such  as  did  not  lie  directly  in  my  way  are  passed  in  silence ;  such 
as  I  was  obliged  to  consider  have  been  encountered,  and  the  results  are  stated. 
The  fundamental  truths  supposed  to  be  established  are  far  too  numerous  to 
be  stated  of  each  divine  Manifestation,  in  a  general  summary,  here.  But 
considering  the  conception  of  this  entire  Book   as  one  great  question,  bear- 


320  ARGUMENT    OF    THE    FOURTH    BOOK. 

ing  with  decisive  force  on  the  whole  idea  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  :  then  the 
fundamental  truths  supposed  to  be  demonstrated  in  it,  may  be  stated  thus : 
The  Knowledge  of  God,  objectively  considered,  is,  in  the  strictest  sense,  a 
science  of  positive  Truth :  the  great  end  of  that  science  is  Knowledge  unto 
Salvation  :  the  grand  divisions  of  it  are,  Man— the  God-Man— God :  the  sources 
of  it  are  the  Manifestations  which  God  makes  of  himself  to  our  Intelligence : 
the  elements  of  it  are,  the  particular  parts  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  obtained 
by  man,  through  the  manifestations  which  God  makes  of  himself  to  our 
Intelligence  :  God  has  manifested  himself  in  this  manner  to  man — and  has 
thus  become  an  object,  not  of  complete  and  perfect  knowledge,  which  is  im- 
possible :  but  of  precise  and  certain  Knowledge  unto  Salvation :  He  has  done 
this  in  a  limited  number  of  ways,  and  by  a  still  more  limited  number  of  meth- 
ods— the  whole  of  which  are  susceptible  of  exhaustive  enumeration,  and  dis- 
tinct classification  by  us :  He  has  done  it  after  a  Natural  method,  with  two 
ways — namely,  Creation  and  Providence  :  He  has  done  it  after  a  Supernatural 
method,  with  two  ways — namely,  Incarnation  and  the  New  Creation :  He  has 
done  it  after  a  method  combining  both  the  preceding  methods,  with  two  ways 
— namely,  Divine  Revelation  and  the  human  Soul  as  a  created  and  recreated 
conscious  and  living  image  of  himself:  and  finally,  the  whole  relation  of  that 
human  soul  to  the  whole  case  is  such,  that  its  ignorance  of  God  in  its  present 
fallen  estate  is  abnormal,  founded  in  sin,  and  fruitful  only  of  misery. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

OUR  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD  :  GENERAL  STATEMENT  CONCERNING  THE 
MANIFESTATIONS  OF  GOD. 

1.  Methods  of  knowing  God.  Nature  of  the  Inquiry. — 2.  As  an  object  of  knowledge. 
God  is  neither  perfectly  comprehensible,  nor  wholly  incomprehensible. — 3.  Dis- 
tinction between  material  and  immaterial  essences.  This  distinction  applied — i. 
Human  nature  considered  with  reference  to  its  capacity  of  knowing. — 5.  The 
most  inscrutable  of  all  problems — how  God  could  conceal  himself. — G.  Our  double 
relation  to  God,  as  creatures  and  as  sinners. — 7.  Our  knowledge  of  God,  the  pro- 
duct of  his  manifestations.  These  considered  as  natural,  as  supernatural,  and  as 
combining  both  methods. — 8.  Creation,  Providence :  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of 
God,  the  Work  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  Divine  Revelation,  the  Human  Soul. — 9. 
The  domain  traversed.  The  result  of  the  Analysis  stated  in  detail. — 10.  The 
posture  of  Revelation  fortilied. 

1.  We  proceed  from  the  direct  inquiry  concerning  the  nature 
and  mode  of  the  divine  existence,  to  a  detailed  examination  of 
the  whole  question  touching  the  means  by  which  we  may  cer- 
tainly know  God.  Hitherto,  all  these  means  have  been  resorted 
to  and  used — some  more,  some  less  :  what  is  now  to  be  at- 
tempted, is  to  vindicate  in  a  distinct  manner,  that  use,  and  to 
point  out  clearly  what  those  means  are,  and.  that  they  alone  are 
the  true  and  the  sufficient  means  of  our  certainly  knowing  God. 
The  question  does  not  primarily  concern  the  fact  of  God's  exist- 
ence— which  has  been  proved  :  nor  yet  the  manner  of  his  exist- 
ence, which  has  been  largely  illustrated  :  though  both  of  these 
questions  are  continually  involved.  But  taking  our  stand  upon 
all  that  has  been  proved  and  illustrated,  what  we  are  to  exam- 
ine and  determine  next,  fa  the  methods  by  which  we  can  come, 
and  have  come,  to  the  certain  knowledge  of  such  a  God  as  has 
been- displayed  :  all  the  methods,  in  their  nature,  and  in  their 
order. 

2.  In  some  respects,  God  is  wholly  incomprehensible  by  us. 
In  other  respects,  he  is  completely  comprehensible  by  us.  If  he 
were  in  every*  respect  wholly  incomprehensible — he  would  be  in 

21 


322  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

no  respect  the  subject  of  our  knowledge  :  if  he  were  in  every 
sense  the  subject  of  complete  knowledge  by  us,  we  should  know 
him  far  better  than  we  know  ourselves,  or  any  thing  else  that 
exists.     On  both  sides  it  would  be  in  its  result,  the  abnegation 
of  God  :  on  the  one  side  by  banishing  him  from  the  intelligent 
universe,  on  the  other  side  by  degrading  him  below  the  creatures 
of  his  own  hands.     Both  of  these  forms  of  appreciating  God  have 
been  found  at  every  period  of  human  History — plunging  the  race 
into  one  abyss  after  another.     God  is  not  a  purely  abstract — and 
therefore  a  purely  inert  being — removed  infinitely  from  us  and 
conceivable  only  as  a  metaphysical  exaltation,  a  stranger  to  his 
own  universe,  and  alike  incapable  of  manifesting  himself,  and  of 
extricating  himself  out  of  his  eternal  incomprehensibility.     Nor 
on  the  other  hand,  is  God  a  being  who  so  passes  into  the  cueated 
universe  as  to  be,  in  a  manner,  absorbed  in  it,  exhausted  by  it, 
and  even  more  obvious  to  the  creatures  he  has  made  than  the 
wonders  of  their  own  being  are.     As  the  cause  of  the  universe 
itself,  he  passes  into  the  universe  and  is  manifested  by  it,  as 
every  cause  is  manifested  in  its  effects.     The  heavens  declare  his 
glory  :  all  things  visible  announce  some  one  or  other  of  his  invis- 
ible perfections  :  his  intelligence,  his  will,  his  power,  shine  forth  in 
all  his  works  ;  everything  that  is  most  august  in  him,  is  manifest 
in  his  transcendent  dominion  over  all  things — still  more  distinctly 
in  the  powers  and  movements  of  the  soul  of  man — and  with  perfect 
fulness  in  the  Word  made  flesh.     Still  however,  we  who  are  but 
finite  effects  of  that  infinite  and  perfect  cause,  can  neither  man- 
ifest perfectly,  nor  comprehend  perfectly  that  which  being  infinite 
must  be  infinitely  comprehended — and  to  be  so  must  be  infinitely 
manifested  :    neither  of  which   is   possible   to  finite  creatures. 
God  escapes  us  in  that  infinitude,  which  is  inaccessible  to  us, 
and.  incomprehensible  by  us.     Yet  we  have  conceptions,  simple 
and  primitive,  concerning  that  very  infinitude  of  God,  and  even 
concerning  that  incomprehensible  essence  of  God  to  which  his 
infinitude  appertains:  inexplicable,  it  may  be,  because  they  rest 
upon  the  furthest  term  of  our  intelligence,  and  because  it  does 
not  appertain  to  reason  to  explain,  but  to  accept  those  simple 
and  primitive  conceptions  which  are  the  elements  of  knowledge 
and  the  very  highest  criteria  of  Truth.     Does  any  one  suppose 
there  can  be  any  effect  without  a  cause;  any  phenomenon  with- 
out a  substance — any  existence  without  an  esserfce — any  thing 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MANIFESTATIONS    OF    GOD.  323 

felt,  or  thought,  or  done,  without  a  thinking,  sentient,  living 
personality  ?  Or  docs  any  one  suppose  there  can  be  any  cause 
which  is  not  contained,  in  some  way,  in  its  effects— or  any  sub- 
stance which  has  not  distinct  relation  to  its  own  phenomena — 
or  any  essence  which  makes  existence  manifest  and  yet  does  not 
exist  itself — or  any  personality  whose  thoughts,  emotions,  and 
acts,  do  not  afford  any  comprehensible  idea  of  its  nature?  If  we 
apply  these  primitive  concejjtions,  to  the  infinite  and  incompre- 
hensible being  of  God — we  find  them  as  clear  in  their  relation 
to  him,  as  in  their  relation  to  any  other  object  to  which  they 
can  be  directed.  Effects,  phenomena,  existence,  ideas,  emotions, 
personality — springing  from  an  infinite  cause,  revealing  an  infi- 
nite substance,  inhering  in  an  infinite  essence,  manifesting  an 
infinite  nature:  or  to  reverse  the  statement — an  infinite  cause. 
an  infinite  substance,  an  infinite  essence,  an  infinite  nature — 
manifesting  itself  in  effects,  phenomena,  existence,  ideas,  emo- 
tions, acts:  how  is  it  possible  for  rational  beings  to  say — either 
that  these  things  are  not  the  subjects  of  knowledge — or  to  say 
that  they  are  the  subjects  of  perfect  knowledge?  How  is  it  pos- 
bible  to  say,  that  God  is  perfectly  comprehensible,  or  to  say  that 
he  is  wholly  incomprehensible  ? 

3.  All  things  which  come  within  the  sphere  of  our  faculties 
are  capable  of  being  reduced  into  two  grand  classes — and  the 
whole  are  separated  by  a  single  line  of  division — fundamental 
and  impassable.  On  the  one  side  is  all  that  we  call  material, 
on  the  other  side  is  all  that  we  call  spiritual:  and  compound  or 
decompose  them  as  we  may,  the  ineffaceable  and  all-pervading 
distinction  abides  in  its  invincible  force.  Each  of  these  immense 
classes  has  one  fundamental  mark  peculiar  to  itself,  and  one 
fundamental  negation  of  the  mark  peculiar  to  the  other:  and 
neither  of  them  has  relatively  to  the  other  more  than  the  one  . 
fundamental  mark  and  negation;  and  when  both  of  them  are 
stripped  of  every  thing  else,  this  fundamental  mark  and  negation 
remains  to  indicate  the  nature  of  that  inscrutable  portion  of 
each  which  wto  call  its  essence.  This  fundamental  mark  of  the 
essence  of  matter  is  that  it  has  extension;  this  fundamental  ne- 
gation is,  that  it  does  not  think.  This  fundamental  mark  of 
the  essence  of  Spirit  is,  that  it  thinks;  this  fundamental  nega- 
tion is  that  it  has  no  extension.  It  is  in  vain  to  say  that  we 
know  nothing  of  the  essence  of  anv  thing  :  for  we  do  know  with 


324  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

4 

absolute  certainty,  that  spirit  does  think,  and  is  incapable  of  any 
extension  at  all:  and  with  the  like  certainty,  that  matter  does 
not  think,  and  is  capable  of  boundless  extension.  It  is  still  more 
vain  to  say — that  it  is  a  mere  assumption  to  claim  that  any  es- 
sence, either  of  matter  or  spiirit,  exists.  For  the  word  is  nothing; 
it  is  the  thing  which  is  insuperable.  Call  it  what  we  may,  some- 
thing exists,  which  thinks  and  is  indivisible:  and  something  else, 
which  cannot  think  and  is  infinitely  divisible.  And  so  certain  is 
this,  that  we  are  utterly  incapable  even  of  conceiving  that  a 
thought  could  exist  without  any  thing  to  think  it,  or  that  ex- 
tension could  exist  without  any  thing  to  be  extended.  Now  it 
has  been  demonstrated  before,  that  the  infinite  God  about  whose 
manifestations  we  are  inquiring,  is  a  self-existent  Spirit — pos- 
sessed of  all  the  perfections  developed  in  several  chapters  of  the 
preceding  Book.  It  is  to  the  human  Spirit,  the  head  of  the 
creation  of  that  Infinite  Spirit,  that  the  manifestations  of  God 
for  which  we  seek  are  made:  it  is  these  which  are  of  supreme 
importance  to  us,  and  to  them  is  this  inquiry  especially  directed. 
4.  The  truthfulness  of  our  senses,  and  the  truthfulness  of  our 
consciousness,  is  for  us  the  ultimate  certainty  upon  which  every 
other  certainty  rests.  For  us,  absolute  Truth  can  go  no  further  ; 
absolute  certainty  can  repose  on  no  surer  basis.  Thus  endowed 
by  God,  we  possess  infallible  means  of  knowing  what  exists  and 
what  passes  within  us,  and  what  exists  and  what  passes  without 
us,  to  the  whole  extent  that  both  are  the  proper  subjects  of 
knowledge,  and  are  brought  within  the  circle  of  our  powers.  In 
our  complex  nature,  the  wonderful  essences  both  of  matter  and 
of  spirit  are  mysteriously  united,  to  form  of  both,  in  each  human 
being,  a  free  personality,  which  is  a  distinct,  active,  and  volun- 
tary, but,  at  the  same  time,  a  dependent,  force  in  the  universe. 
•  On  the  one  hand,  all  physical  things  are  made  tributary  to  our 
growth  in  knowledge  and  in  power;  on  the  other  hand,  we  are 
made  partakers  of  that  universal,  absolute,  and  infallible  reason, 
which,  in  its  relation  to  us,  fallen  as  we  are,  is,  indeed,  no  longer 
a  perfect  guide  ;  and  are  made  capable  of  receiving  that  eternal 
truth,  which  is  supreme  even  to  human  reason  itself,  and  inde- 
pendent of  it,  as  it  appears  in  man — that  intelligence  and  that 
truth  which  are  consummate  in  God,  and  are  of  the  very  essence 
of  the  Infinite  Spirit.  By  whatever  means  it  can  be  shown  that 
we  exist  at  all,  it  is  shown  at  the  same  time  that  we  exist  in 


CHAP.  XXIII.]         MANIFESTATIONS    OF    GOD.  325 

6uch  a  manner,  and  with  such  capabilities,  that  we  cannot  avoid 
knowing,  in  sonic  form,  that  which  is  the  proper  object  of"  oui 
senses  and  our  faculties,  and  within  their  reach  ;  nor  avoid  per- 
ceiving, that  in  the  things  thus  known  there  is  that  eternal  dis- 
tinction of  True  and  False,  responsive  to  the  infinite  intelligence 
of  God,  and  that  eternal  distinction  of  Good  and  Evil,  responsive 
to  the  infinite  Rectitude  of  God.  We  cannot  err  in  supposing 
that  our  consciousness  reports  to  us  these  inward  acts  and  states, 
dependent  on  the  perception  of  these  existences  and  these  dis- 
tinctions. We  are  incapable  of  distrusting  the  absolute  truth 
of  that  which  our  consciousness  reports  to  us  ;  for  to  doubt  it 
implies  that  we  might  doubt  the  doubt,  which  is  wholly  absurd. 
All  that  is  left  to  us  is  to  rely  on  the  reality  of  the  distinctions 
themselves,  or  to  believe  that  all  things  are  equally  true  and 
false,  equally  good  and  bad  ;  that  is,  we  must  subvert  the  deep- 
est foundations  of  our  nature,  and  destroy  both  intelligence  and 
conscience,  in  order  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  knowing  God  !  Nor 
does  it  avail  any  thing  to  urge  that  our  nature  is  both  feeble  and 
limited,  by  way  of  disproving  its  essential  character  ;  any  more 
than  it  tends  to  prove  we  are  not  what  we  arc,  because  other 
natures  are  far  above  or  far  below  ours.  Our  imperfections  may 
prove  that  our  nature  is  dependent,  which  is  true,  or  that  it  is 
depraved,  which  is  true  also  ;  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  dependent 
human  nature — depraved  human  nature.  It  is  a  self-conscious, 
voluntary,  free,  rational,  moral,  and  therefore  of  necessity  a  know- 
ing nature,  with  means  of  infallible,  though  not  complete,  knowl- 
edge concerning  itself,  concerning  things  exterior  to  itself,  and 
concerning  the  relations  of  those  outward  and  inward  worlds  to 
each  other,  and  to  the  author  of  both  of  them. 

5.  Howr  such  a  state  of  things  as  I  have  now  briefly  stated 
could  exist  independently  of  such  a  God  as  I  have  hereto- 
fore demonstrated  is  what  no  human  intelligence  is  able  to 
conceive,  however  vain  and  multiplied  may  have  been  the  at- 
tempts of  Philosophy,  falsely  so  called,  to  persuade  itself  that 
it  had  done  what  human  nature  repudiates  as  impossible.  Nay, 
it  has  been  shown  again  and  again,  by  those  who  have  had 
the  deepest  insight  into  philosophy,  and  have  spoken  only  in  her 
venerable  name — that  the  fundamental  cognitions  by  which  we 
know  our  finite  selves,  and  know  a  finite  outer  world  distinct 
from  ourselves,  absolutely  involve  the  insuperable  belief  of  a 


326  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  TV. 

substance  for  every  phenomenon,  an  essence  for  every  existence, 
a  cause  for  every  effect  ;  in  one  word  the  conception  of  an  infi- 
nite Creator,  without  involving  the  conception  of  whom,  the  very 
simplest  acts  of  our  rational  nature  are  incomprehensible  and 
impossible.  In  the  nature  of  the  case  the  real  difficulty  would 
be,  for  God  to  conceal  himself  from  us,  and  for  us  to  conceive 
how  he  could  accomplish  this,  even  supposing  him  to  desire  it. 
And  the  only  rational  presumption  would  be,  that  he  strongly 
desired  to  make  himself  known  to  us,  and  would  take  care  that 
this  result  should  be  effectually  secured.  With  such  a  nature  as 
ours  has  been  shown  to  be,  how  is  it  conceivable  that  we  should 
be  shut  up  with  such  a  God  as  the  Living  God,  in  a  universe 
full  of  him,  and  still  have  no  conception  of  him,  nor  even  any 
assurance  of  his  existence  ?  We,  separate  activities  restrained 
at  every  instant  by  an  infinite  activity  :  we,  living  intelligences 
face  to  face  perpetually  with  the  infinite  giver  both  of  life  and 
intelligence  :  we,  each  one  a  real  though  a  finite  cause,  in  cease- 
less contact  with  the  cause  of  all  causes  :  we,  in  whom  the  use- 
ful, the  free,  the  beautiful,  the  true,  the  good — are  the  very 
elements  of  all  progress — and  their  triumphs  over  nature,  in 
society,  in  all  art,  in  all  knowledge,  in  all  religion,  are  the  con- 
summation of  all  human  civilization — living,  moving,  and  having 
our  being  in  the  very  bosom  of  the  omnipresent  author  of  them 
all ;  and  yet  this  perfectly  glorious  being  shall  be  considered  as 
nowhere  manifested  to  us  !  Let  us  not  dishonor  our  nature  and 
insult  our  Creator  by  pretending  to  credit  such  conceits. 

6.  We  sustain  two  very  distinct  relations  to  God,  as  has  been 
heretofore  clearly  explained  and  repeatedly  illustrated.  We  sus- 
tain toward  him  the  relation  of  creatures,  and  the  relation  of 
sinners,  with  all  that  is  involved  in  both.  He  is  our  Creator,  and 
he  is  our  Saviour — with  all  that  is  involved  in  his  being  both. 
The  knowledge  which  we  need  of  him,  is  the  Knowledge  of  him 
in  both  of  these  respects,  the  Knowledge  relevant  to  us  consid- 
ered as  occupying  both  of  these  relations  to  him.  And  the  means 
concerning  which  we  inquire,  and  whereby  that  Knowledge  must 
be  obtained,  are  such  as  are  appropriate  and  real  with  respect  to 
us,  considered  both  as  creatures  and  as  sinners  ;  and  the  mani- 
festations of  God,  whereby  we  may  know  him — of  whatever  kinds 
they  may  be — must  to  be  effectual,  be  suitable  to  our  condition 
and  faculties,  just  as  they  are.     We  are  not  seeking  for  methods 


CHAP.  XXIII  ]         MANIFESTATIONS     OF    GOD.  327 

by  which  beings  higher  or  lower  than  ourselves,  on  the  bound- 
less scale  of  possible  existence,  might  know  God  ;  but  exclusively 
for  such  means  of  knowing  him  as  come  within  the  circle  of  our 
nature — within  the  compass  of  our  powers — within  the  reach  of 
our  faculties,  sense,  intellect,  conscience  ;  the  physical,  the  ra- 
tional, the  moral ;  this,  for  us,  is  all.  Through  either  of  these, 
or  through  any  two,  or  through  all  three,  or  by  means  of  any 
relations  which  they  bear  to  each  other,  or  to  us,  or  to  God  ;  we 
possess  the  means  of  certain  Knowledge.  Nor  must  we  forget, 
that  these  means  if  they  terminate  on  the  one  side  upon  us, 
terminate  on  the  other  upon  God  ;  and,  therefore,  if  wo  may  not 
exalt  their  perfection  to  the  perfection  of  God,  neither  can  we 
degrade  their  weakness  to  the  level  of  human  infirmity.  They 
are  the  middle  term  through  which  all  knowledge  passes  from  the 
infinite  to  the  finite  ;  and  who  can  tell  what  boundless  riches  of 
Knowledge  are  lost  in  the  perilous  transit,  from  the  un wasting 
fountain  to  the  frail  recipient  !  Who  can  limit  the  improve- 
ment of  which  these  sources  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  are  sus- 
ceptible in  us,  even  in  our  present  state  of  existence — much  less, 
when  they  are  perfected  in  eternity  !  Who  can  imagine  the 
boundless  store  we  may  gather  up,  of  what  is  lost  to  us  now  ! — 
How  clear,  and  how  ennobling  is  the  conviction  to  which  the  most 
rigid  analysis  conducts  us,  that  whatever  knowledge  we  have  or 
can  obtain  of  God,  is  not  to  be  distrusted  as  if  it  might  be  un- 
real ;  but  contrariwise,  is  worthy  of  the  most  intrepid  confi- 
dence, because  by  the  very  means  through  which  Ave  obtain  it, 
we  are  made  certain  that  the  mine  from  which  some  precious 
particles  have  reached  us,  literally  overflows  with  inexhaustible 
treasures  ! 

7.  I  have  already  stated,  in  various  forms,  that  we  cannot 
launch  ourselves  beyond  the  limits  of  our  peculiar  nature  in 
search  of  the  knowledge  of  God  :  but  must  content  ourselves 
with  such  means  of  the  knowledge  of  him,  as  he  brings  within 
our  sphere.  I  have  also  pointed  out  our  insuperable  ignorance 
in  some  respects,  of  the  essences  of  all  things,  and  our  precise 
knowledge  in  other  respects  ;  and  our  primitive  and  instinctive 
belief  concerning  the  only  essences  of  which  we  have  any  concep- 
tion, namely  the  essence  of  matter  and  the  essence  of  spirit. 
There  is  no  form  in  which  the  idea  of  a  material  existence  of 
God  can  be  stated — which  does  not  result  immediately  in  some 


328  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

form  of  Atheism.  Moreover,  the  precise  conception  we  have  of 
the  very  essence  of  matter,  namely  extension  and  by  consequence, 
form,  divisibility,  and  the  like,  is  contradictory  of  the  very  con- 
ception we  have  of  God — and  of  every  attribute  of  his  nature  : 
while  the  precise  conception  we  have  of  the  very  essence  of  spirit, 
namely  thought,  and  by  consequenc,  self-consciousness,  intelli- 
gence, and  the  like,  is  exactly  in  harmony  with  the  very  concep- 
tion we  have  of  God,  and  of  every  perfection  of  his  being.  It  is 
impossible  therefore,  that  God  should  be  the  immediate  object 
of  our  senses,  or  that  we  should  have  immediate  cognition  of  him 
through  them.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  equally  impossible  for 
such  finite  existences  as  we  are,  through  the  natural  exercise  of 
such  faculties  as  ours,  upon  such  conditions  as  limit  their  ordi- 
nary use,  to  have  any  intuition  or  immediate  vision,  or  direct  cog- 
nition of  a  spiritual  existence  exterior  to  ourselves.  Moreover, 
we  are  unable  to  construe  to  ourselves  the  unconditioned,  the 
infinite,  in  whatever  form  it  may  be  presented  to  our  intelligence. 
The  direct  and  immediate  cognition  of  God,  in  any  natural  man- 
ner and  by  natural  means,  is  therefore  impossible  to  us.  We 
cannot  know  him  thus  by  means  of  our  senses,  for  he  is  imma- 
terial, and  they  take  cognizance  only  of  matter,  and  its  pheno- 
mena. Our  Spirits,  shut  up  in  their  tenements  of  clay,  cannot 
have  a  natural  intuition  and  immediate  vision  of  any  spirit  or  of 
Spiritual  existences  exterior  to  themselves.  Finite,  limited,  and 
acting  under  conditions  which,  determine  the  limits  of  knowledge 
— and  the  possibility  even  of  thought — we  cannot  construe  the 
infinite  to  our  intelligence.  The  direct  Knowledge  of  God  is 
therefore  impossible  to  us  by  any  natural  means.  Supernatural 
means  must  be  resorted  to,  and  supernatural  effects  must  follow 
their  use,  if  we  know  God  in  any  manner  different  from  the  man- 
ner natural  to  us.  It  is  clear  that  all  our  knowledge  of  God  must 
be  derived  from  Manifestations  of  himself  coming  within  the 
sphere  of  our  intelligence.  These  manifestations  may  be  such 
as  to  come  within  that  sphere  naturally  considered  ;  or  they  may 
be  such  as  to  come  within  it  only  by  means  that  are  supernatural : 
or  they  may  be  such  as  combine  both  methods.  The  manifesta- 
tions of  God  in  Nature  and  in  Providence,  may  be  considered 
examples  of  the  first  kind.  His  manifestations  through  the  Word 
made  Flesh,  and  in  the  wrork  of  his  Divine  Spirit  may  be  con- 
sidered examples  of  the  second  kind.     His  manifestations  in  the 


CHAP.  XXIir.]         MANIFESTATIONS    OF    GOD.  329 

written  Revelation  of  his  Will,  and  in  the  Human  Soul  may  be 
considered  examples  of  both  methods  united — that  is,  examples  of 
the  third  hind.  As  for  us  our  knowledge  extends,  these  examples 
exhaust  in  principle,  the  susceptibility  of  the  case — and  in  effect 
embrace  all  the  permanent  manifestations  of  God  to  man. 

8.  What  I  allege  is,  that  God  has  created  the  universe,  and 
that  he  is  the  Ruler  of  it  :  and  that  herein  are  two  manifesta- 
tions of  himself,  boundless  in  their  extent,  permanent  in  their 
contact  with  us,  and  as  means  of  knowing  him  within  the  natural 
sphere  of  our  intelligence.  What  I  allege  in  the  second  place 
is,  that  God  through  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  is  the 
Saviour  of  men,  and  that  God,  through  his  divine  Spirit,  is  the 
sanctifier  of  men  :  and  that  herein  are  two  additional  manifesta- 
tions of  himself,  altogether  supernatural  both  in  their  methods 
and  their  effects,  but  completely  within  the  sphere  of  our  intel- 
ligence when  supernaturally  made  known  to  us.  And  what  I 
allege  in  the  third  place  is,  that  God  has  delivered  to  us,  by 
means  of  men  inspired  by  him,  a  permanent  revelation  of  him- 
self, and  that  in  the  soul  of  man  as  created  and  as  re-created,  he 
has  erected  a  perpetual  monument  to  himself  as  Creator  and  as 
Saviour  :  and  that  herein  are  two  additional  manifestations  of 
himself,  which  partake  of  the  method  of  the  first  two,  in  that 
they  are  in  many  particulars  within  the  natural  sphere  of  our  in- 
telligence— and  which  also  partake  of  the  method  of  the  second 
two  in  that  they  are  in  many  respects  transcendently  separated 
from  nature,  and  capable  of  beiug  adequately  construed  to  our 
intelligence,  only  under  a  supernatural  illumination.  There  is 
no  other  permanent  manifestation  of  God  to  man,  which  does 
not  fall  within  the  compass  of  one  or  the  other  of  those.  I\or 
can  we  conceive  how  there  could  be,  or  why  there  should  be,  any 
other  in  our  present  state  of  existence.  By  means  of  these  the 
perfect  knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  the  complete  frui- 
tion of  God  unto  eternal  life,  are  attainable  by  man.  Nay  so 
attainable,  as  to  glorify  God  and  exalt  man  in  the  highest  con- 
ceivable degree,  both  in  the  method  and  in  the  result — of  the 
knowledge  of  God  made  known  to  man.  Therein  our  fallen 
nature  recovering  its  primeval  glory,  obtains  that  restoration 
which  in  a  manner  vague,  but  most  powerful,  has  occupied  so 
large  a  space  in  all  its  hopes  and  struggles.  Therein  man  enters 
upon  that  better  form  of  life  brought  to  light  by  the  Gospel,  and 


330  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

becomes  the  inheritor  of  that  true  immortality  which  crowns 
all. 

9.  They  who  the  most  carefully  examine,  will  the  most 
clearly  see  that  the  analysis  which  has  brought  us,  by  a  process 
so  rigorous,  to  results  so  great — has  been  obliged  to  touch  in  its 
transit,  immense  questions  of  all  sorts,  and  vast  problems  which 
the  human  mind  has  avoided  as  insoluble,  or  staggered  under 
even  to  our  day.  There  is  scarcely  a  sentence  that  is  not  neces- 
sary to  the  final  result  ;  yet  there  is  scarcely  one  which  an- 
nounces a  truth  that  might  not  be  enlarged  to  a  chapter,  more 
suitably  than  compressed  into  a  few  sjdlables.  Over  this  vast 
domain  Christianity  has  fought  innumerable  battles  with  her 
open  enemies  and  her  pretended  friends  :  and  there  is  no  por- 
tion of  it,  over  which  Philosophy  has  not  always  wandered  and 
always  struggled.  Following  the  order  of  my  method  and  my 
thoughts,  the  objective  view  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  led 
directly  across  this  vast  domain,  through  which  a  thorough 
Evangelism  and  a  true  Philosophy  combined,  can  alone  insure 
to  us  a  safe  footing  and  a  sure  way.  What  I  bring  from  the 
survey  has  been  stated  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  in  a  particu- 
lar way,  and  with  reference  to  a  special  illustration  needed  there. 
The  six  permanent  forms  of  the  divine  manifestation,  which  the 
whole  analysis  has  produced,  and  which  are  completely  exhaus- 
tive of  the  subject  as  it  is  related  to  our  present  inquiry — will 
form  the  topics  of  the  six  succeeding  chapters.  The  object  of 
the  present  chapter  is  accomplished,  if  it  is  clearly  perceived 
upon  what  general  grounds  I  maintain,  that  the  true  knowledge 
of  the  living  God  is  attainable  by  man  :  that  it  is  attainable 
only  by  means  of  the  manifestations  which  God  makes  of  him- 
self :  and  that  both  the  principles  and  the  examples  of  his  per- 
manent manifestations,  are  distinctly  appreciable  by  man.  Sum- 
marily stated  they  appear  in  the  following  manner  : 

(a)  God  may  be  known  by  man,  as  manifested  in  his  works : 
God  the  Creator  : 

(b)  He  may  be  known,  as  manifested  in  his  Dominion  and 
Reign  ;  The  God  of  Providence  : 

(c)  He  may  be  known,  as  manifested  in  Human  Nature  : 
The  Word  made  flesh  : 

(c£)  He  may  be  known,  as  manifested  in  the  New  Creation  : 
God  the  Spirit : 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MANIFESTATIONS    OF    GOD.  331 

(c)  He  may  be  known,  as  manifested  in  Revelation  :  The 
God  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  : 

(/)  He  may  be  known,  as  manifested  in  the  conscious  exist- 
ence of  man  :  God  the  maker  and  renewer  of  the  Human  Soul. 

10.  I  have  forborne  to  cite  particular  passages  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, iu  confirmation  of  the  successive  steps  of  the  foregoing  de- 
velopment, and  in  support  of  the  various  statements  involved  in 
it.  All  true  knowledge  of  God,  no  matter  how  attained,  must 
accord  with  all  further  knowledge  attainable  of  him  ;  and  the 
matter  immediately  before  us,  was  the  settlement  of  Principles, 
which  in  some  degree  involve  the  Scriptures  themselves  as  one — 
or  if  the  statement  is  better — as  the  infallible  means  of  our 
knowing  God.  Still,  Kowever,  in  order  that  the  Scriptures  may 
be  an  infallible  means — or  indeed  any  means — of  our  knowing 
God,  it  is  necessary  that  God  should  manifest  himself  in  that 
manner,  and  that  we  should  be  able  to  comprehend  him  when  so 
manifested.  That  the  word  of  God  should  be  unto  us,  not  only 
a  perfect  rule,  but  the  only  perfect  rule,  whereby  we  may  glorify 
and  enjoy  him,  depends  upon  principles  which  involve  both  the 
nature  of  God  and  that  of  man,  and  the  relations  between  the 
two  :  principles  which  determine  that  there  are  other  most  im- 
portant means  of  knowing  God,  and  determine  what  those  other 
means  are,  at  the  same  time  that  they  determine  with  certainty 
on  what  grounds  the  Scriptures  may  be  the  transcendent  means 
they  claim  to  be.  The  method  pursued  embraces  all,  avoids  the 
cavil  of  arguing  in  a  circle,  and  strengthens  the  foundations  of 
the  Scriptures  themselves. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

GOD  MANIFEST  IN  HIS  WORKS :    GOD  THE  CREATOR  OF  ALL  THINGS. 

I.  1.  The  Creation  of  tho  Universe — according  to  the  Word  of  God. — 2.  Appreciation 
of  its  Sublime  Statements. — 3.  State  of  the  question — supposing  them  to  be  re- 
jected.— 4.  Additional  proofs  of  the  Creation  of  all  things  by  God. — II.  1.  The 
Relation  of  created  things  to  their  Creator,  as  manifestations  of  him,  and  so  means 
of  knowledge  of  him. — 2.  Outline  of  the  method  and  fundamental  part  thereof. — 
3.  Ourselves  and  our  Creator. — 4.  Elements  of  the  Problem  of  the  knowledge  of 
God,  from  the  Work  of  Creation. — 5.  The  Perpetual  Presence  in  the  universe,  of 
the  Power  which  created  all  things.  Tho  Living  God  as  fully  manifested  in,  as 
the  Creator  is  by,  all  things. — III.  1.  Appreciation  of  the  results  of  this  knowl- 
edge of  God.  2.  All  the  divine  manifestations,  though  distinct,  are  correlated. 
Relation  of  this  mode  to  the  rest. — 3.  Fundamental  authority  and  compass  of  this 
Natural  Revelation  of  God. — 4.  The  abnormal  condition  of  this  question,  by  the 
entrance  of  Sin  and  its  Remedy,  into  the  Universe.     Solution. 

I. — 1.  As  a  mere  question  of  fact  in  Revealed  Theology,  noth- 
ing is  more  clear,  nothing  can  be  more  direct,  than  the  teachings 
of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  concerning  the  creation  of  the  Universe. 
In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth.1  These 
are  the  words  with  which  the  Oracles  of  God  commence.  They 
are  immediately  followed  by  a  comprehensive  but  circumstantial 
account  of  the  creation  of  our  world  and  every  thing  in  it  ;  of  our 
Solar  and  Sidereal  systems,  apparently  beyond  a  doubt ;  and 
most  probably  of  the  whole  physical  universe.  The  statements  of 
tills  original  account  of  the  creation  of  all  things  constituting  our 
universe,  are  repeated  innumerable  times  throughout  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  and  in  their  absolute  truth  lies  the  fundamental  basis  of 
every  other  truth  the  Scripture  contains  which  it  imports  us  to 
know  ;  since  nothing  else  they  state  concerning  it  is  comprehensi- 
ble or  can  possibly  be  true,  except  upon  the  supposition  of  the  truth 
of  their  statements  concerning  our  origin.  Nor  is  it  possible  for  a 
candid  mind  to  mistake  what  the  Scriptures  mean  continually 
to  assert.     It  is  creation  in  the  most  absolute  sense  upon  which 

1  Genesis,  L  1. 


CHAP.  XXIV.]      TIIE    CREATION    OF    ALL    THINGS.  333 

they  everywhere  insist  ;  the  making  of  all  things  out  of  nothing 
by  Mod  in  the  space  of  six  days,  and  all  very  good.  This  crea- 
tion may  he  called  inexplicable — incomprehensible — incredible — 

impossible  :  it  has  been  so  called.  What  I  insist  on  here  is,  that 
in  defiance  of  all  that,  the  Scriptures  do  not  only  assert  it,  with 
the  must  sublime  conviction  and  directness,  but  that  their  doing 
this  is  one  of  their  most  pregnant  and  fruitful  facts,  and  involves 
one  of  their  highest  titles  to  be  called  the  word  of  God.  The  man- 
nor  of  the  creation,  the  circumstances  which  attended  it,  the  mo- 
tives which  lead  to  it.  the  results  which  were  to  flow  from  it,  as 
all  these  overwhelming  events  are  explained  throughout  the  Scrip- 
tures, give  to  the  subject  a  grandeur  which  never  loses  its  influ- 
ence over  the  sacred  writers,  and  which  it  is  impossible  for  a 
rational  creature  to  contemplate  without  astonishment  and  awe. 
2.  In  whatever  light  Ave  contemplate  the  Scriptural  account 
of  the  creation  of  the  universe,  it  is  equally  marvellous.  Con- 
sidered as  a  myth,  a  creation  of  the  imagination — its  grandeur 
surpasses  all  conception.  Considered  as  a  historical  attempt  to 
recover  and  restore  to  man  the  story  of  his  origin,  the  wonder  is 
that  the  obscure  story  outran  the  sublime  record,  and  that  all 
peoples,  who  never  saw  the  record,  preserved  the  great  outlines, 
demonstrating  the  signal  point  of  their  own  primeval  unity  in 
the  unity  of  traditions  so  remarkable.  Considered  as  a  scientific 
theory  meant  to  account  for  the  actual  condition  of  the  universe, 
how  futile  are  all  other  theories,  such  as  the  fortuitous  combina- 
tion of  atoms — the  eternal  existence  of  the  universe — the  gradual 
development  of  all  things,  an  endless  series  of  creations,  and  the 
like  :  when  compared  with  the  simple,  grand  and  complete  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  offered  by  Moses,  and  reasserted  throughout 
the  Scriptures  !  Considered  as  absolute  truth,  recorded  through 
a  divine  inspiration  for  human  instruction,  how  amazing  is  the 
insight  connected  with  its  continual  statements,  into  every  other 
inspired  truth  !  For  example,  into  the  highest  rnystery  of  all — 
the  mystery  of  the  divine  existence.  It  is  the  one  God  in  three 
persons  who  created  the  universe.  For  when  God  created  the 
heaven  and  the  earth,  the  Spirit  of  God  brooded  on  the  face  of 
the  waters  :l  yet,  it  was  the  "Word  of  Jehovah  who  made  the 
heavens  and  His  Spirit  the  Host  of  them  :a  and  yet,  once  more, 
it  is  God  the  Father  of  whom  are  all  things,  and  the  Lord  Jesus 

1  Gen.,  i.  2.  a  Ps.  xxxiii.,  G. 


334  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

Christ  by  wliorn  are  all  things  :'  and  still,  it  was  the  Word,  who 
was  in  the  beginning  with  God,  and  who  was  God,  who  made  all 
things,  and  without  whom  was  not  anything  made,  that  was  made.2 
3.  Now  if  we  reject  this  wondrous  account,  we  cannot  stop 
there  and  leave  a  question  of  that  sort,  and  so  urgent  for  some 
solution,  in  total  silence.    For  that  a  stupendous  universe  really 
exists,  and  has  a  voice  which  we  must  hear  and  construe,  is  pal- 
pable to  us  continually.     If  it  is  the  work  of  a  creator,  it  is  a 
most  glorious  manifestation  not  only  of  his  being,  but  of  many 
of  his  infinite  perfections  :  a  manifestation  open  before  us,  and 
soliciting  our  attention,  and  profusely  rewarding  our  inquiries. 
If  it  be  not  a  created  universe,  and  a  manifestation  of  divine 
power,   and  wisdom,  and  goodness — what  is   it  ?     A  crushing 
enigma  ?     Phenomena  incalculably  vast  and  intricate,  without 
any  substance  ?      Existences  apparently  innumerable,   and  no 
essence  for  any  of  them  ?     Effects  the  most  wonderful,  complex, 
reiterated — and  all  without  any  cause  ?     Overwhelming  proofs 
of  design,  of  a  beginning,  of  adaptation,  of  final  causes,  of  bound- 
less intelligence,  and  yet  no  being  to  whom  we  may  refer  these 
undeniable  proofs  of  a  personal  existence  pervading  the  universe 
and  controlling  it  ?     These  things,  according  to  the  primitive 
laws  of  our  intelligence,  are  simply  impossible.     Or  if  they  were 
possible,  we  are  naturally  incapable  of  believing  them  to  be  so  : 
that  is  we  are  naturally  incapable  of  accepting  such  a  solution 
as  that,  of  the  problem  of  the  universe.     We  cannot  avoid  be- 
lieving in  a  creator,  unless  they  will  supply  his  place  with  that 
which  is  at  once  adequate  and  credible. 

4.  Independently  of  the  word  of  God,  and  of  those  psycho- 
logical considerations  which  I  have  suggested,  and  from  both  of 
which  sources  of  proof,  the  fact  of  the  absolute  creation  of  the 
universe  seems  to  be  positively  certain:  there  are  other  proofs 
to  the  same  effect  from  various  quarters,  independent  of  both  the 
foregoing,  which  appear  to  be  conclusive.  For  example,  there  is 
in  all  existing  things  a  manifest  contingency,  dependency,  muta- 
tion and  tendency  to  decay,  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of 
their  having  an  independent  and  necessary  existence.  But  what- 
ever has  not  a  necessary  and  independent  existence,  must  have  a 
creator,  or  must  be  fortuitous.  But  if  there  is  any  God,  then 
nothing  can  be  fortuitous  in  regard  of  him;  and  he  must  be  the 

1  1  Cor.,  viii.  6.  ,J  John,  i.  1-3. 


CHAP.  XXIV.]      THE    CREATION    OF    ALL    THINGS.  335 

sole  Creator.  Unavoidably,  therefore,  if  there  is  a  God,  there 
can  be  nothing  else  except  what  he  creates.  Again:  the  exist- 
ence of  laws  and  principles  of  reproduction,  throughout  the  uni- 
verse, which  are  distinct  from  the  creature,  which  are  superior 
to  it,  and  which  are,  for  the  most  part,  unknown  to  it;  clearly 
shows  the  impotence  and  insignificance  of  the  creature  compared 
with  that  great  and  controlling  cause — which  has  subjected  their 
existence  to  those  laws  and  principles — which  of  themselves  prove 
that  cause  to  be  free,  intelligent,  and  irresistible — that  is  to  be  a 
creator.  Again:  It  is  perfectly  certain  that  what  begins,  must 
have  a  creator;  for  if  it  be  wholly  inexplicable  how  even  an  in- 
finite creator  can  give  existence  to  something  out  of  nothing — it 
is  utterly  absurd  to  say  this  can  be  done  without  any  creator  at 
all.  But  it  is  certain,  both  historically  and  scientifically,  that 
the  existences  in  this  universe  are  recent;  nay,  as  compared  with 
eternity  are  very  recent.  They  have  had  a  beginning — that  is 
they  have  been  created.  Moreover:  there  is  no  force  nor  any 
being  in  the  universe,  except  God,  competent  to  create  any  thing  : 
nor  is  there  any  work  of  creation,  in  any  absolute  sense,  now 
going  on.  But  while  it  is  perfectly  intelligible  that  a  free  and 
personal  and  infinite  Creator  might  freely  create  at  one  time,  and 
cease  to  create  afterward:  it  is  on  the  other  hand,  impossible  to 
conceive  of  the  existence  of  a  competent,  creative  cause  which  is 
blind  and  fortuitous,  competent  and  active  in  creating  at  one 
time,  and  incompetent  and  inactive  at  another  time:  and  yet  at 
the  same  time  self-existent,  and  therefore  eternal  and  by  con- 
sequence immutable.  And  still  further:  every  cause  is  so  mani- 
fested in  its  effects,  that  no  cause  can  possibly  transcend  itself, 
nor  any  effects  transcend  their  cause.  No  fortuitous  cause  can 
act  with  design:  no  blind,  cause  can  produce  for  a  foreseen  end; 
no  dead  cause  can  produce  vital  results:  no  cause  destitute  of 
intelligence  and  will,  can  produce  effects  endowed  with  intelli- 
gence and  will.  Nay  it  is  a  mere  absurdity  to  pretend  that  a 
finite  cause  can  create  any  thing.  One  single  act  of  creation  is 
an  incontestable  proof  of  the  supreme  Godhead  of  him  who  per- 
forms it.  And  so  every  dependent  and  contingent  existence,  is 
of  necessity,  an  incontestable  proof  that  an  act  of  creation  has 
been  performed.  Just  so  much  as  exists  beside  God — just  so 
much  proof  of  creation  and  so  many  manifestations  of  God,  are 
set  before  us. 


336  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

II. — 1.  It  is  not  for  the  purpose  of  proving  the  existence  of 
God,  except  as  that  is  incident  to  the  main  topic,  that  the  work 
of  creation  is  specially  considered  here:  but  contemplating  the 
created  universe  as  a  most  glorious  manifestation  which  God  has 
made  of  himself — it  is  to  seek  therein,  beyond  the  palpable 
proofs  that  he  is,  those  deeper  and  more  comprehensive  ones, 
that  he  is  the  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him.  Nev- 
ertheless we  are  to  remember  that  the  certainty  of  God's  exist- 
ence, and  of  our  knowledge  thereof,  are  respectively  the  founda- 
tions of  all  knowledge  of  God  and  of  all  comfort  therein;  while 
scepticism  is  invested  with  this  twofold  temptation,  that  it  is  a 
refuge  from  superstition,  and  that  it  ministers  a  kind  of  subtle 
nourishment  to  pretentious  ignorance.  As  soon  as  it  is  admitted 
that  such  a  universe  as  this  exists,  it  is  capable  of  being  shown 
that  there  must  be  an  original  and  eternal  form  of  self-exist- 
ence :  and  that  this  must  be  an  infinite  spiritual  form.  As 
soon  as  it  is  perceived,  that  we  are  obliged  to  recognize  any 
such  thing  in  the  universe  as  cause,  no  matter  of  what  kind,  and 
that  by  a  primitive  law  of  our  being,  we  cannot  avoid  believing 
that  every  effect  is  obliged  to  have  a  cause  ;  then  it  follows, 
readily,  that  all  causes  and  all  effects  are  traceable  to  one  self- 
existent  and  eternal  cause,  infinite  in  force  and  intelligence.  As 
soon  as  it  is  perceived  that  all  existences  except  that  of  the  one 
Infinite  and  self-existent,  not  only  are,  but  are  obliged  to  be  de- 
pendent, finite  and  contingent ;  then  it  follows  inevitably,  that 
they  were  all  created.  And  as  soon  as  we  observe  and  admit, 
that  all  finite  existences,  manifest  in  themselves  and  in  their  re- 
lations, an  adaptedness  for  certain  uses  and  objects  and  ends, 
and  a  want  of  adaptedness  to  other  uses  and  objects  and  ends  ; 
it  is  impossible  to  avoid  believing  that  he  who  created  them,  did 
it  with  design  and  with  intelligence  and  with  power,  Now  it  is 
in  these  manifestations  of  himself,  throughout  all  creation, 
that  we  discover  proofs  of  the  nature  and  character  of  God — and 
that  we  obtain  true  knowledge  of  him.  It  is  a  kind  of  knowl- 
edge perfectly  within  the  sphere  of  our  Intelligence — both  as  to 
the  nature  of  it,  and  as  to  the  means  of  our  obtaining  it ;  a  bound- 
less creation — every  part  of  which  is  a  conclusive  proof  of  God's 
Existence,  and  a  manifestation  of  some  one  or  other  of  his  perfec- 
tions. On  the  one  hand,  the  infinite  God  manifests  himself  in 
and  by  means  of  a  created  universe  :    on  the  other  hand,  the 


CHAF.  XXIV.]       THE     CREATION     OF     ALL    THINGS.  337 

finite  creature  man,  rises  to  the  knowledge  of  the  infinite  God, 
as  lie  is  thus  manifested. 

2.  If  we  will  consider  attentively  what  is  involved  in  proving 
that  Grod  is  the  Creator  of  the  universe,  and  will  then  reflect 
upon  his  perfections  as  they  have  been  classified  in  a  previous 
chapter  :  we  shall  observe,  how  immense  is  the  knowledge  of 
God  which  we  have  actually  attained  in  coming  to  that  point, 
and  how  clear  the  way  before  us  from  that  point  is,  to  still  further 
discoveries  concerning  the  divine  nature.  "We  cannot  conceive 
of  any  motive  being  sufficient,  or  even  possible  to  God  as  the 
chief  motive  in  creating  the  universe — except  the  manifestation 
of  himself  in  the  way  of  glory  to  himself,  and  in  the  way  of 
blessedness  to  the  creature.  The  source  of  life  to  all  things,  he 
possesses  the  fulness  of  life  in  his  own  self-existence  ;  and  the 
living  cause  of  all  things  and  of  all  causes,  the  infinite  actuosity 
of  that  self-existence,  is  clothed  with  boundless  power,  directed 
by  infinite  intelligence,  prompted  by  infinite  goodness,  guided 
by  infinite  justice,  impelled  by  an  infinite  will.  The  result  is 
the  universe  we  behold.  Not  a  development  of  God  ;  but  a 
work  of  God  by  which  he  makes  himself  manifest.  Not  a  work 
as  of  necessity  in  the  progress  of  God — a  kind  of  outbirth  of  him- 
self:  but  a  free  purpose  of  an  infinite  will,  shining  forth  in  every 
part  of  that  creation,  which  had  been  determined  in  preference 
to  all  others.  Every  part  was  good  as  it  passed  the  unfathom- 
able gulf,  and  emerged  from  non-existence  :  the  whole  was  very 
good,  as  it  sprang  forth  in  glory  and  beauty,  with  its  new  life 
gushing  wildly  through  every  fibre  of  it,  and  its  new  light  flash- 
ing from  breast  to  breast  and  from  world  to  world,  and  the 
anthem  of  all  created  things  like  a  hymn  of  joy  and  praise  and 
triumph  to  the  Eternal,  swelling  throughout  the  universe  !  Very 
good  unto  the  glorious  end  for  which  it,  amidst  and  above  all 
boundless  possibilities  of  things,  had  been  chosen  and  created  ; 
very  good  in  its  own  pure  estate — unpolluted  as  yet — and  full 
of  the  divine  presence,  veiled  only  by  the  weakness  of  the  crea- 
ture. 

3.  It  may  be  well  admitted  that  there  are  few  who  possess 
[hat  knowledge  of  God  considered  as  our  Creator,  which  all 
thoughtful  persons  might  easily  obtain  :  few  who  possess  even 
that  knowledge  of  the  works  of  God,  digested  into  scientific 
forms,  which  is  within  the  reach  of  all  educated  persons.     This, 


338  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

however,  is  no  more  than  occurs  with  regard  to  every  other 
source  of  divine  knowledge  :  and  shows  how  the  contented  ignor- 
ance of  God  in  which  men  abide,  is  not  the  fault  of  the  means 
of  knowledge,  which  God  has  provided,  but  is  voluntary  and  sin- 
ful, and  is  justly  denounced  by  the  Scriptures  as  akin  to  the 
scoffing  of  the  last  perilous  times.1  Yet  of  all  knowledge,  the 
knowledge  of  nature — which  is  but  another  name  for  God  mani- 
fested in  creation,  is  the  nearest  to  us,  the  most  immediate  and 
striking  in  its  results,  and  in  its  ordinary  forms  the  most  certain 
to  be  obtained  by  him  who  seeks  it  :  for  many  of  those  most 
obvious  natural  links  between  us  and  our  creator  are  so  simple 
and  so  close,  as  to  make  matter  almost  appear  rational,  and  to 
make  organism  appear  as  if  it  might  almost  produce  thought. 
Yet  as  we  advance,  God,  instead  of  humbling,  exalts  himself 
more  and  more  ;  carrying  us  with  him  indeed,  in  his  boundless 
progress — but  never  allowing  us  to  cross  the  gulf  between  the 
finite  and  the  infinite  ;  exalting  us  more  and  more  as  we  know 
more  and  more  of  him,  but  exalting  himself  above  us  contin- 
ually ;  knowing  him  better  forever,  but  getting  no  nearer  to  him 
forever.  We  must  not  forget,  however,  that  we  who  thus  seek 
for  God  in  his  works — are  ourselves  the  most  marvellous  part  of 
his  creation  :  and  though  still  competent  to  know  and  honor 
him,  that  we  are  fallen  very  far  below  the  estate  in  which  he 
created  us,  and  have  brought  upon  the  universe  that  curse  of 
sin,  which  everywhere  obscures  the  image  of  the  creator,  and 
have  brought  upon  ourselves  that  depravity  which  unfits  us  for 
perceiving  as  we  might  that  divine  image. 

4.  Occupying  our  own  stand-point  in  the  created  universe, 
and  from  it  looking  out  upon  all  the  works  of  God,  the  most  im- 
pressive aspect  in  which  it  strikes  us,  perhaps,  is  its  immeasur- 
able vastness  connected  with  the  thought  of  its  absolute  pro- 
duction from  nonentity  by  the  creative  power  of  the  ever-living 
God.  We  have  no  means  of  making  ourselves  understood,  when 
we  would  utter  our  conceptions  of  illimitable  space  and  of  the 
innumerable  forms  of  existence,  which  are  scattered  through  this 
immensity :  indeed  we  are  unable  to  construe  to  ourselves  the 
ideas  which  wre  would  fain  make  articulate  to  others.  Beneath 
us  there  are  divisions  which  seem  to  be  infinite — gradations 
which  appear  to  be  immeasurable — the  very  existence  of  many 

1  2  Peter,  iii.  3-7. 


CHAP.  XXIY.]      THE    C  B  E  A  T  I  O  N    0  P    ALL    THINGS.  339 

of  which  we  never  could  have  ascertained  by  our  unaided  senses ; 
and  again  around  us,  and  beyond  us,  illimitable  extension  and 
boundless  creation — the  very  existence  of  the  greater  part  of 
which  also,  art  and  science  have  slowly  and  painfully  made 
known  to  us.  Here,  then,  in  a  manner,  arc  four  distinct  worlds 
presented  to  us  :  the  outer  one  naturally  on  a  level  with  our 
faculties  :  the  one  beneath  us,  which  minute  researches  aided 
by  the  microscope  reveal :  then  the  one  which  the  highest  efforts 
of  science  aided  by  the  telescope  brings  within  our  reach  :  and 
finally  the  one  within  us,  to  the  bar  of  which  the  others  are  all 
brought,  and  which  is  the  most  wonderful  of  them  all.  We  can 
occupy  no  position  in  which  presumptuous  confidence  of  knowl- 
edge which  we  do  not  possess,  and  imbecile  self-abnegation  of 
faculties  and  means  of  knowledge  which  distinguish  and  adorn 
our  nature,  can  be  more  out  of  place,  than  when  standing  thus 
face  to  face  with  our  Creator — as  seen  through  his  infinitely 
glorious  works.  We  do  not  know  what  a  creation  of  something 
out  of  nothing  is  ;  but  wo  do  know  that  every  finite  thing,  is  a 
created  thing,  and  that  there  can  be  but  one  creative  cause — but 
one  infinite,  personal  Creator.  We  cannot  conceive  of  time's 
having  either  a  beginning  or  an  end,  without  conceiving  of  time 
before  the  beginning  and  of  time  after  the  end,  just  as  easily  as 
of  any  other  time.  We  cannot  conceive  of  any  space  being  so 
small  that  it  might  not  be  smaller,  nor  so  large  that  it  might  not 
be  larger.  AVe  cannot  conceive  of  matter  being  so  extended, 
so  divided,  or  so  compressed,  that  it  is  not  equally  conceivable 
as  being  differently  extended,  still  further  divided,  or  still  more 
compressed.  We  cannot  conceive  of  existence  of  any  sort  with- 
out motion,  and  yet  motion  as  incident  even  to  matter,  is  per- 
fectly inscrutable,  except  as  the  product  of  an  intelligence  dis- 
tinct from  the  matter.  And  finally,  matter  and  motion,  and 
time  and  space — an  infinite  self-existent  Spirit  creating  all 
things — a  finite  created  intelligence  searching  into  all  created 
things  for  the  Knowledge  of  the  Creator ;  behold  the  elements 
of  the  problem  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  from  the  work  of 
creation.  Those  elements  cannot  be  combined,  so  far  as  we  can 
conceive,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  avoid  demonstrating  a  Creator  ; 
nor  in  such  a  manner  as  to  conceal  that  Creator,  in  the  funda- 
mental exhibition  of  his  nature  and  character. 

5.  Considering  the  created  universe  as  one  whole,  one  work, 


340  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

and  Irom  tnence  seeking  to  deduce  its  specific  characteristics,  and 
the  nature  of  him  who  executed  such  a  monument  of  life,  of 
power,  of  intelligence,  and  of  goodness  ;  we  cannot  avoid  being 
struck  with  the  distinct  and  pervading  manifestations  of  such  a 
power  still  abiding  in  the  universe,  as  it  has  been  shown  must 
have  created  it.  To  create  such  a  universe — is  an  inconceivable 
exertion  of  all  infinite  perfections  by  an  infinite  being  ;  but  it  is 
hardly  less  to  sustain  the  action  of  such  a  universe  in  its  career 
and  to  its  end,  unto  both  of  which  indeed,  it  was  created.  What 
we  observe,  therefore,  is  the  inextinguishable  force  of  the  life 
that  fills  the  universe  and  replenishes  all  things  in  it.  In  its 
origin  utterly  inscrutable  to  us  ;  in  its  ordinary  individual  mani- 
festation often  the  frailest  of  all  things,  and  of  all  things  the 
least  valued  by  nature  and  the  most  squandered  by  her ;  but 
as  an  elemental  principle  of  the  universe,  recuperative,  invin- 
cible and  all  pervading.  Life — assimilation — reproduction — 
death.  What  is  it  ?  We  may  not  dare  to  say  that  the  vital 
force  in  man  as  distinguished  from  his  intelligence  is  the  same 
with  that  manifested  in  the  lower  animal  kingdom  ;  nor  that 
this  latter  is  near  akin  to  that  exhibited  in  the  whole  vegeta- 
ble kingdom  ;  nor  that  this  again  is  of  the  same  nature  as 
the  whole  or  any  part  of  that  irresistible  power  which  pervades 
the  universe  in  the  form  of  mere  affinities  and  forces.  But 
what  must  be  said,  is  that  the  sum  of  all  this  boundless  and 
overwhelming  power  of  life,  of  one  sort  and  another,  which 
replenishes  every  created  thing,  in  one  or  other  of  its  forms, 
emerges  from  the  creation  as  inexplicably  as  the  creation  does 
from  nonentity  ;  and  that  it  manifests  the  Living  God  in  the 
universe,  as  really  as  the  universe  manifests  a  Creator.  Then 
it  behooves  us  to  contemplate  the  principles  upon  which  this 
boundless  and  irresistible  life  of  the  universe  rests,  and  through 
which  it  acts  ;  the  steadfastness,  and  yet  the  versatility,  the  in- 
conceivable activity,  tenacity,  and  power,  with  which  the  princi- 
ples of  that  varied  life  of  the  universe  manifest  themselves.  A 
step  further  reveals  to  us  that  these  principles  manifest  them- 
selves through  laws  which  are  invariable,  irresistible,  and  im- 
mutable ;  laws,  which  with  an  exactitude  perfectly  rigorous,  and 
with  an  intelligence  which  omits  nothing  and  which  usurps  noth- 
ing, control  and  direct,  throughout  every  portion  of  the  universe, 
every  manifestation  of  its  varied  and  immeasurable  life.    Another 


CHAP.  XXIV.]       THE    CREATION    OF    ALL    THINGS.  341 

step  obliges  us  to  suspect  that  all  this  life  in  all  its  forms,  all 
these  principles  which  express  so  much  of  its  nature  as  we  have 
examined  and  classified — and  all  these  laws  through  which  these 
great  principles  operate — are  pervaded  by  a  universal  tendency 
of  mutual  adaptation.  And  then  a  little  scrutiny  reveals  to  us, 
that  this  adaptation  of  every  part  of  the  universe  to  every  other 
part,  and  to  the  whole — is  not  only  the  very  ground  upon  which 
these  immeasurable  forces  can  co-exist  at  all ;  but  therein  is 
found  that  very  nexus  of  the  universe  itself,  which  makes  it  a 
decreed  universe,  and  not  a  fortuitous  universe.  And  still  one 
additional  step,  and  we  are  forced  to  observe,  that  all  that  has 
been  now  pointed  out,  is  absolutely  beyond  the  power,  independ- 
ent of  the  capacity  and  will,  irrespective  of  the  choice,  and  with- 
out regard  to  the  knowledge  or  the  ignorance  of  the  creature. 
Nor  is  the  slightest  attempt  made  in  any  part  of  the  manifested 
life  of  the  universe,  to  lower  this  supreme  position  of  the  sover- 
eign Creator  of  all  things  ;  or  to  make  the  creation  itself  appear 
to  the  creature  to  be  any  thing  less  or  more  than  it  really  is, 
namely,  a  stupendous  manifestation  of  the  wisdom,  power,  and 
glory  of  the  true  and  Living  God,  in  the  execution  of  the  free 
and  immutable  counsel  of  his  own  will.1 

III. — 1.  Now  it  is  for  us  to  consider  all  the  perfections  of 
this  Infinite  being, — and  all  our  relations  to  him — that  we  may 
attain  unto  that  degree  of  knowledge  of  him,  which  may  be 
reached  through  the  works  of  his  hands.  His  manifestation  of 
himself  lry  means  of  the  universe  he  has  created,  is  the  primeval 
manifestation  :  the  first  of  all — the  foundation  also  of  all.  We 
cannot  recognize  God  in  this  relation  for  a  moment,  without  per- 
ceiving that  his  right  to  us,  in  us.  and  over  us  and  tho  whole  uni- 
verse,  is  al  isi  lute  and  unlimited.  He  has  created  us  from  nothing  : 
he  has  done  the  like  concerning  the  whole  universe,  of  which  each 
one  of  us  is  an  almost  imperceptible  part:  he  has  done  all  this 
from  considerations  originating  in  himself,  and  terminating  upon 
himself.  That  he  has  a  perfect  right  to  use  and  dispose  of  us 
and  of  all  things,  merely  and  absolutely  as  seems  good  to  himself, 
is  also  beyond  cavil  :  and  what  is  more,  we  may  rest  assured  that 
there  is  an  unavoidable  certainty  that  this  will  be  done.  If  in 
the  doing  of  this,  the  glory  of  the  Creator  is  found  to  be  not  only 
consistent  with  the  great  blessedness  of  the  creature,  but  to  be 

1  Gen.,  12.  3;  John,  i.  1-5;  Rom.,  L  19-21;  Rev.,  iv.  11. 


342  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

infinitely  promoted  thereby,  and  that  in  a  manner  supremely 
satisfying  to  the  Creator :  a  further  insight  is  thus  gained  into 
the  moral  aspect  of  his  infinite  being.  Nor  is  it  possible  for  us 
to  resist  the  overwhelming  conviction,  forced  upon  us  by  every 
attempt  we  make  to  know  God  by  means  of  his  works,  that  such 
a  Creator  will  use  such  a  creation — in  a  manner  corresponding 
with  all  his  infinite  perfections,  and  for  the  accomplishment  of 
ends  suitable  to  the  wondrous  displays  made  of  himself  in  it. 

2.  While  it  is  necessary  to  keep  the  different  sources  of  the 
knowledge  of  God  distinct,  in  so  far  as  neither  to  confound  them 
with  each  other,  nor  to  omit  any  because  others  may  seem  to  be 
more  perfect  :  we  are  not  to  restrict  ourselves  in  the  use  of 
every  means  as  a  help — even  in  the  right  use  of  all  the  rest. 
Thus  those  sublime  ends  proposed  by  God  in  the  creation  of  the 
universe,  to  which  allusion  has  just  been  made,  become  more  dis- 
tinct to  us  and  more  comprehensible  by  us,  under  every  succes- 
sive manifestation  which  God  makes  to  us  of  his  nature,  his 
works,  and  his  counsels  :  and  thus  our  knowledge  is  increased, 
while  the  certitude  of  it  is  strengthened  from  every  quarter. 
The  providential  use  which  is  made  of  every  peculiarity  of  nature, 
makes  it  continually  obvious  that  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe  is 
identical  with  its  Creator  :  and  not  to  multiply  illustrations — ■ 
the  writers  of  the  Inspired  Books  make  it  perfectly  obvious  that 
they  had  an  insight  into  the  profoundest  secrets  of  nature,  and 
into  their  providential  use,  and  that  they  had  an  insight  into  the 
great  designs  of  God,  whether  considered  as  Creator,  Ruler,  or 
Saviour  of  the  world,  which  was  altogether  superhuman  upon 
every  one  of  these  vast  topics. — Thus  the  Creator,  the  Ruler,  and 
the  Saviour  become  identified  at  the  first  step  of  this  process  oi 
our  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  God  ;  and  even  the  very  latest 
manifestations  of  God,  through  his  work  in  the  soul  of  man, 
brings  its  tribute  to  reward  the  earnest  seeker  after  God,  even 
from  his  very  first  step.  For  the  sense  of  dependence  and  ac- 
countability in  man,  is  a  response  of  human  nature  itself  to  the 
claims  of  its  divine  Creator,  Lord,  and  Master ;  and  the  human 
conscience  is  explicable  at  all,  only  when  it  is  seen  that  it  is  the 
moral  sense  of  a  created  and  dependent,  and  yet  free  and  per- 
sonal existence.  Amidst  the  facts  and  analogies  of  the  physical 
universe,  the  most  sublime  doctrines  of  Revealed  Religion  find 
themselves  illustrated,  recognized,  assumed  ;  so  that  our  nature 
and  destiny  as  deduced  from  the  works  of  God  and  as  explained 


3HAF.  XXIV.]      THE    CREATION    OF    ALL    THINGS.  343 

in  Ins  word — as  ordered  in  his  providence,  as  controlled  l>y  his 
Divine  Son  and  Spirit — and  as  exhibited  in  our  own  conscious 
existence,  are  established  with  perpetual  accumulation  of  evi- 
dence, and  invincible  assurance,  side  by  side  with  the  knowledge 
of  the  Living  and  true  Grod. 

3.  Existence  is  the  first  gift  of  God  :  the  gift  upon  which  the 
libility  of  every  other  gift  depends.     The  work  of  creation  is 

the  foundation  of  every  thing  in  the  universe  which  is  exterior  to 
God  :  and  whatever  else  God  doth,  rests  upon  this,  his  primeval 
work.  The  relations  which  subsist  between  God  and  all  created 
things,  are  the  fundamental  relations  in  the  universe  ;  the  laws 
which  express  these  relations,  which  we  call  the  laws  of  Nature, 
constitute  a  distinct  revelation  of  God,  and  from  God :  and  with 
this  primitive  revelation,  every  subsequent  one  must  accord.  The 
rational  and  moral  nature  of  man  are  a  part  of  this  creation — a 
part  of  this  original  Revelation  :  natural  reason  and  natural  mor- 
ality— intelligence  and  conscience — are  antecedent  to  all  religions, 
as  being  the  elemental  parts  of  the  religion  which  results  from  the 
primary  relations  between  God  and  man,  considered  as  creator 
and  creature.  Natural  Religion  is  therefore  the  foundation  of  all 
true  Religion  :  and  a  very  large  part  of  Revealed  Religion  con- 
sists in  the  clear  and  authoritative  re-statement  of  the  funda- 
mental truths  of  this  primary  Religion,  grounded  in  this  primeval 
revelation  of  God  in  creation.  Nor  is  it  concerning  Religion  alone 
that  statements  of  this  description  are  so  important  and  so  true. 
It  is  upon  the  study  of  the  works  of  God,  and  the  comparison  of 
the  results  thus  obtained  with  each  other  and  with  all  things 
else,  that  our  knowledge  of  all  things  is  mainly  founded:  knowl- 
edge which  Revelation  itself  respects,  accords  with,  and  assumes 
to  be  real.  The  relations  of  numbers  and  quantities  ;  the  laws 
of  the  human  faculties  ;  the  method  of  the  intellect  in  stating 
its  own  processes  ;  what  are  these,  and  many  similar  things, 
but  common  and  permanent  operations  of  nature  ?  And  yet  in 
another  point  of  view  they  become  sciences  of  the  highest  order 
— Mathematics,  Metaphysics,  Logic.  God  is  not  the  maker  only 
of  the  universe  ;  he  is  also  its  sustainer.  The  universe  is  from 
him,  and  He  is  in  it  ;  and  his  infinite  perfections  are  palpable, 
both  ways,  and  that  continually. 

4.  We  rely  implicitly  upon  the  stability  of  the  universe,  and 
of  the  order  which  we  observe  in  all  things.  Independently  of 
experience  we  would  not  expect  any  serious  change,  of  the  cause 


344  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

of  which  we  knew  nothing ;  and  when  such  things  established 
themselves  before  our  eyes,  as,  for  example,  death,  we  should  not 
expect  any  reparation.  Death  is  an  inscrutable  phenomenon  to 
nature  :  the  resurrection  of  the  body  is  as  unexpected  after  death 
as  death  after  life.  All  these  are  abnormal  occurrences,  of  which 
Nature  must  seek  knowledge  from  Kevelation.  They  are  results 
of  the  introduction  of  sin  into  the  universe,  and  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  remedy  for  sin.  And  death  and  the  resurrection,  stu- 
pendous as  they  are,  are  but  effects  ;  it  is  sin  and  its  remedy, 
which  are  the  cause.  And  stupendous  effects  as  they  are,  they 
are  but  two  out  of  innumerable  effects,  produced  upon  the  uni- 
verse by  the  entrance  of  sin  into  it,  and  the  final  purging  it  of 
sin.  At  present,  it  is  a  universe  lying  under  the  curse  of  God,  but 
with  a  promise  of  deliverance  ;'  a  condition  in  both  aspects  abnor- 
mal. Yet  it  is  under  these  conditions  that  we  must  now  contem- 
plate the  source,  the  career,  and  the  catastrophe  of  the  created 
universe.  Conditions  which  may  obscure  many  aspects  of  the  ques- 
tion of  God,  considered  merely  as  Creator,  but  which  increase  in  a 
still  higher  degree  our  means  of  knowing  God  in  the  new  relation 
which  the  new  conditions  of  the  prohlem  impose.  God  as  the 
Kuler  of  a  Universe  depraved  but  to  be  purged  ;  God  as  the 
Saviour  and  sanctifier  of  sinners  ;  God  as  Eevealed  in  his  blessed 
word,  and  in  the  conscious  existence  of  the  fallen  and  recovered 
soul.  All  these  are  manifestations  of  the  same  God,  who  created 
us  and  all  things,  and  whose  glory,  simply  as  Creator,  the  fall  of 
our  own  race  has  temporarily  obscured.  The  shock  to  the  uni- 
verse by  the  entrance  and  diffusion  of  sin  ;  the  recovery  of  the 
universe  from  the  curse  and  pollution  of  sin  ;  the  development 
of  the  relations  of  the  Creator,  so  as  to  involve  those  of  Saviour 
also  ;  the  final  results  of  all  these  conditions,  normal  and  ab- 
normal, in  the  fete  of  the  created  universe  :  all  these  vast  topics, 
and  others  like  them,  dilate  naturally  from  the  subject  before  us, 
and  diiate  also  our  conceptions  of  it,  until  the  whole  dominion 
of  God  may  become  visible  from  any  one  position  in  it,  and  the 
whole  being  of  God  be  made  the  subject  of  a  scrutiny  commenc- 
ing with  any  aspect  of  it.  It  is  the  unity  of  the  Living  God  ; 
the  unity  of  his  infinite  being,  and  work,  and  perfection,  which 
makes  such  things  not  only  possible  without  confusion  or  distor- 
tion, but  which  solicits  them  as  constituting  an  exalted  method 
of  developing  the  divine  proportion  of  Faith. 

1  Gen.,  iii.  passim;  Acts,  iii.  19-21. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

GOD    MANIFEST    IX    HIS    INFINITE   DOMINION— THE    GOD   OP 
PROVIDENCE. 

L  1.  General  idea  of  Providence. — 2.  Its  Relations  to  Nature,  Creation,  and  Grace. — 
3.  [ta  Relation  to  God  as  a  manifestation  of  his  infinite  Nature,  and  Eternal 
Counsel. — 4.  The  irresistible  execution  of  the  Will  of  God,  ordinarily  through  the 
use  of  means  and  second  causi  -.  and  I  i  the  exclusion  of  Chance,  Necessity,  and 
Fate. — II.  1.  The  Sublime  Vision  of  the  Prophet  Ezekiel.—  2.  The  aspect  of  that 
Universal  Providence  in  the  light  of  Revelation,  Reason,  Experience,  and  our 
Rrimitive  Convictions. — 3.  The  Will  of  God,  executed  in  his  Providence,  is  not 
limited  to  his  Will  revealed  in  his  Word. — -1.  The  force  of  that  truth,  in  its  rela- 
tion to  the  Knowledge  of  God,  and  to  Duty. — III.  1.  The  point  of  view  from 
which  all  Providence  is  unfolded  by  God. — 2.  The  System  of  Providence  exhibits 
the  same  God  exhibited  in  Creation,  Revelation,  and  Reason — Special  Provi- 
dence.— 3.  The  sublime  illustration  of  the  Nature  and  Ends  of  Providence,  fur- 
nished in  the  Nature  and  Career  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom. — IV.  1.  Tho  univer- 
sal belief  of  Mankind  that  invisible  Intelligences  were  Objects  and  Agents  of 
Divine  Providence.— 2.  Pure  Spirits:  Spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect:  Resem- 
blance and  Difference. — 3.  Summary  of  Christian  Doctrine,  touching  tho  Angelic 
Hosts. — i.  Their  Relation  to  Divine  Providence. 

I. — 1.  The  outward  works  of  God,  as  it  is  commonly  ex- 
pressed, are  the  works  of  Grace  and  of  Nature.  The  works  of 
nature  are  again  divided  into  Creation  and  Providence  ;  the  lat- 
ter being,  when  considered  relatively  to  nature  only,  a  kind  of 
continual  creation,  hut  when  considered  in  reference  to  the  whole 
bearing  of  God's  dominion,  being  rather  contrasted  with  the 
work  of  creation  than  treated  as  a  kind  of  prolongation  of  it. 
And  let  it  not  be  disguised,  that  the  moment  we  admit  a  Provi- 
dence we  admit  a  Creator  ;  because  it  is  only  when  we  admit 
that  the  universe  is  dependent  and  contingent  that  any  provi- 
dence over  it  is  possible.  For,  if  it  is  not  dependent  and  contin- 
gent, it  is  self-existent,  eternal,  and  immutable  ;  and  whatever 
is  either  one  of  these  is  uncreated,  and  as  much  out  of  the  reach 
of  Providence  as  God  himself.  In  like  manner,  the  moment  wre 
prove  a  Creator  it  becomes  very  easy  to  demonstrate  a  Provi- 


346  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

deuce.  Indeed  a  created  universe,  capable  of  continued  exist- 
ence, without  the  continued  presence  of  the  Creator,  is  wholly 
inconsistent  with  any  idea  we  can  form  of  any  hind  of  cause  or 
of  any  hind  of  dependent  existence.  And  even  if  that  were  not 
so,  it  is  obvious  that  Creation  itself  is  a  Providence,  if  in  the 
very  act  of  creation  the  whole  future,  existence  of  the  universe  is 
foreseen  and  effectually  provided  for. 

2.  What  is  called  nature,  is  that  active  force  of  bodies  upon 
which  their  actions  depend;  and  so  the  nature  of  the  Universe, 
is  the  sum  of  all  those  forces  which  inhere  in  all  the  bodies  in 
the  Universe.  God,  it  has  been  skowm,  is  the  Author  of  Na- 
ture. The  rational  creatures  of  God  taken  together  and  consid- 
ered separately  from  the  merely  physical  universe,  are  called 
unitedly  the  Spiritual  World,  the  City  of  God,  and  so  on.  So 
far  as  we  have  any  positive  knowledge  these  are  men  and  angels: 
no  other  rational  creatures  are  known  to  exist;  and  all  we  know 
certainly  of  angels  is  by  divine  revelation.  With  reference  very 
especially  to  rational  creatures,  but  with  reference  also  to  the 
whole  universe,  the  Providence  of  God  is  his  most  holy,  wise 
and  powerful  preserving  and  governing  all  his  creatures  and  all 
their  actions.1  This  Providence  of  God,  so  comprehensive  over 
all  his  works,  taken  in  its  complete  sense  embraces  every  act  of 
God  except  his  work  of  Creation:  and  along  with  that  work  of 
Creation,  is  the  complete  execution,  according  to  the  infallible 
foreknowledge  of  God,  and  the  free  and  immutable  counsel  of 
his  will,  of  the  eternal  decree  of  God.  But  the  eternal  decree  of 
God,  by  which  his  work  of  Creation  was  directed,  and  his  work 
of  Providence  is  executed,  having  special  reference  to  his  rational 
creatures,  namely  to  men  and  angels,  but  embracing  also  what- 
ever comes  to  pass;  is  nothing  more,  nothing  less,  than  the  ir- 
resistible consummation  of  the  free,  wise  and  holy  purpose  of 
God  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will,  wherein  for  his 
own  glory,  and  from  all  eternity,  he  has  foreordained  whatever 
comes  to  pass.2  As  an  attempt  to  survey  the  providence  of  God, 
under  so  wide  an  aspect  as  this,  would  carry  us  through  the 
whole  field  of  revealed  Keligion;  we  must  of  necessity  restrict 
the  view  to  be  taken  of  it  here.  Nor  is  there  any  difficulty  in 
doing  so.     For  while  the  work  of  Providence  is  very  closely  con- 

J  Ps.  ciii.  19 ;  Rora.,  xi.  36 ;  Heb.,  i.  3 ;  Math.,  x.  29,  30. 
s  Eph.,  i.  4-11;  Rom.,  ix.  15-23. 


CHAP.  XXV.]  DIVINE     PROVIDENCE.  347 

nected  with  the  work  of  Creation  on  one  side  and  the  work  of 
Grace  on  the  other,  it  is  not  identified  with  either:  and  while 
it  may  be  said  to  embrace  Loth,  yet  it  lias  a  special  province 
distinct  from  both,  and  remarkably  connecting  them  with  each 
other.  In  the  logical  order  of  the  manifestation  of  God  to  man, 
Providence  immediately  arises,  as  soon  as  any  creation  exists: 
and  the  course  of  that  Providence  conducts  immediately  through 
the  broken  covenant  of  Works,  to  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  as 
the  result,  at  once  infinitely  gracious,  and  if  there  be  any  grace 
at  all  then  irresistibly  logical  !  In  a  certain  sense  every  thing  is 
involved  in  the  Providence  of  God:  but  at  the  same  time,  there 
are  such  realities  as  Nature,  and  Creation,  and  Grace. 

3.  "We  are  not  speaking  of  God  in  any  vague  sense;  but  of 
that  true  and  living  God,  to  the  knowledge  of  whom  all  our  past 
inquiries  have  been  devoted,  and  concerning  whom  we  have  ob- 
tained many  clear  ideas.  Nor  are  we  speaking  of  his  Providence 
in  any  loose  manner;  but  in  a  precise  method,  as  he  manifests 
himself  in  his  infinite  dominion  over  the  universe  and  over  all 
things  therein,  and  as  thereby  made  known  in  what  he  is  to  his 
rational  creatures.  Supposing  there  is  such  a  Providence  of 
God,  it  results  necessarily  that  it  must  accord  with  his  nature, 
his  essence,  his  perfections,  his  designs.  For  it  is  absurd  and 
contradictory  to  suppose  and  is  practically  as  well  as  theoretically 
impossible,  that  he  could  create  a  universe  for  one  object  and 
govern  it  for  a  different  object;  that  he  should  purpose  to  effect 
one  set  of  results,  and  labor  to  bring  about  a  different  set;  that 
his  Nature  should  impel  him  in  one  direction  and  his  Intelligence 
point  out  another  as  preferable,  and  his  Will  reject  both.  The 
whole  Providence  of  God  must  necessarily  accord  with  the  whole 
purpose  of  God:  and  just  so  far  as  the  former  is  comprehensible 
by  us,  we  have,  by  that  means,  an  insight  into  the  latter,  and  into 
the  nature  and  character  of  God.  But  the  purpose  of  God  is 
simply  the  determination  of  his  will,  consummated  in  his  de- 
cree. Nor  does  it  change  the  matter  in  the  least,  to  speak  of 
the  decree  any  more  than  of  the  purpose  or  the  will  of  God  as 
one  or  as  manifold:  except  that  the  former  is  simpler  and  more 
accurate.  And  since  the  decree  of  God  is  no  more  than  the 
determination  of  his  will,  whatever  can  be  asserted  of  the  nature 
of  the  latter,  is  equally  and  necessarily  true  of  the  former.  If 
the  determination  of  the  will  of  God  is  from  Eternity,  his  de- 


348  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

cree  also  is  from  Eternity.  If  the  will  of  God  is  perfectly  free 
and  perfectly  immutable,  so  is  Ins  decree.  If  the  will  of  God  is 
not  a  simple  and  pure  cause,  destitute  of  intelligence  and  a  suf- 
ficient reason,  neither  is  his  decree.  If  God  can  and  does  will 
things  inscrutable  to  us,  so  can  he  and  will  he  decree  them.  If 
God  wills  all  things  with  reference  to  all  his  own  perfections, 
and  writh  reference  to  the  whole  universe  and  its  chief  end,  he 
decrees  all  things  in  like  manner:  and  so  of  every  other  aspect 
of  the  matter.  As  has  been  abundantly  shown,  the  possibility 
of  all  things  depends  on  the  divine  intelligence  :  their  existence 
depends  on  the  Divine  Will :  therefore  the  decree  of  God  neither 
determines  the  possibility  of  things,  for  that  is  determined  by 
the  Divine  intelligence,  nor  the  Existence  of  things  for  that  is 
determined  by  the  Divine  will :  but  it  determines  only  the  certi- 
tude of  that  existence,  which  was  before  not  only  possible  but 
willed.  Of  itself  it  changes  nothing  in  the  things  themselves. 
All  things  remain  free,  or  contingent,  or  necessary,  under  the  de- 
cree of  God;  precisely  as  they  were  free,  contingent  or  necessary 
when  contemplated  by  the  intelligence  of  God  as  possible,  or  by 
the  will  of  God  as  existing.  In  like  manner  they  remain  great 
or  small,  clear  or  inscrutable,  good  or  bad,  precisely  as  they  were 
before. 

4.  Now  the  irresistible  execution  of  the  will  of  God  in  all 
created  things  is  his  Providence — He  sustains,  preserves,  and 
governs  all  things  :  all  his  creatures  and  all  their  actions.  Un- 
der his  illimitable  dominion,  the  omnipresent  God  is  so  in  his 
universe,  that  all  things  work  and  all  work  together.  Specially 
indeed  for  good  to  them  that  love  him — but  universally  to  all 
results,  and  to  the  grand  result  of  all  things.1  All  his  Attri- 
butes concur  in  all  his  Providence  :  but  his  power,  his  wisdom, 
his  goodness  and  his  justice  are  most  especially  manifest.  So 
far  from  excluding  means,  and  rejecting  second  causes,  the  ordin- 
ary Providence  of  God  manifests  itself  through  them  rather  than 
without  them  ;  and  it  is  with  reference  to  them  that  the  dis- 
tinctions of  free,  necessary  and  contingent  have  special  applica- 
tion to  human  events  :  just  as  it  is  of  the  essence  of  things  that 
GodJs  Providence  is  said  to  be  preserving,  and  with  reference  to 
the  actions  of  his  creatures  that  it  is  called  concurring,  and  rela- 
tively to  the  object  and  end  of  things  and  actions  that  it  is  said 

1  Rom.,  viii.  28. 


CHAP.  XXV.]  DIVINE     PROVIDENCE.  349 

to  be  governing  and  controlling.  Those  acts  of  God's  Providence 
which  occur  without  respect  to  ordinary  means  and  second  causes, 
overeign  and  miraculous  interpositions  :  and  the  more  clearly 
it  can  be  shown  that  they  do  not  flow  from  the  antecedent  condi- 
tion of  things,  nor  from  the  power  of  second  causes,  the  more 
certain  it  is  that  they  are  direct  acts  of  God.  In  both  cases  a 
first  cause  and  the  dependence  of  all  things  on  it,  are  equally 
necessary,  equally  certain  :  since  otherwise,  there  can  be  no  act 
or  work  of  God,  whether  Providential  or  Miraculous.  As  to 
Chance  there  can  be  no  such  thing  under  the  dominion  of  God  ; 
and  all  that  can  be  meant  by  necessity  is,  that  from  given  causes 
appropriate  effects  must  ensue,  or  on  the  other  hand  that  there 
must  be  an  appropriate  cause  for  given  effects.  Xo  cause  can 
be  fully  known  except  in  its  effects,  nor  can  any  effect  be  ade- 
quately construed  except  in  its  cause.  Fate,  whether  that  of 
the  Ancient  Stoics,  or  of  the  Mohammedans,  or  of  the  Pantheists, 
though  differing  from  each  other  in  that  the  first  denies  all  free- 
dom  to  human  actions  and  all  contingency  to  events,  while  the 
second,  though  admitting  them  both,  denies  all  their  force,  and 
the  third  though  subordinating  means  to  the  end  rejects  all  con- 
tingency from  the  universe  :  fate  under  every  conception  of  it, 
except  that  there  is  an  absolute  certitude  of  events  and  effects 
founded  in  a  certain  order  of  causes  and  of  things,  is  inconsistent 
with  the  fundamental  conception  of  the  Adorable  Providence 
of  God. 

II. — 1.  The  Prophet  Ezekiel  had  a  sublime  vision  twice 
vouchsafed  unto  him,  which  affords  the  grandest  illustration  of  the 
nature,scope  and  relations  of  Divine  Providence.  Out  of  the  whirl- 
wind and  the  cli  tttd,  and  the  self-enfolding  fire,  and  the  insupport- 
able brigc  .  here  emerged  the  likeness  of  four  living  creatures, 
which  he  afterwards  knew  to  be  Cherubim.  Strange  and  diverse, 
but  having  some  likeness  of  a  man,  each  with  four  diverse  faces, 
and  each  with  four  wings  :  united  to  each  other,actuated  by  one 
spirit,  moving  straight  forward  without  turning,  and  with  a  com- 
mon impulse,  burning  like  coals  of  fire,  and  flashing  as  they  went, 
their  movement  was  as  the  appearance  of  a  flash  of  lightning. 
Connected  with  the  four  living  creatures,  were  four  wheels, 
which  were  one  even  as  the  living  creatures  were  one  ;  a  wheel 
within  a  wheel,  resting  upon  the  earth  their  rings  were  so  high 
that  they  were  dreadful,  and  the  rimrs  of  all  four  were  full  of 


350  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

eyes — the  appearance  of  the  wheels  like  a  beryl  and  like  a  ter- 
rible  crystal,  moving  all  together,  straight  forward,  by  an  im- 
pulse common  to  them  all,  and  shared  equally  by  the  wheels  and 
the  living  creatures.     And  besides  the  life  common  to  them  all, 
there  was  a  spirit  which  controlled  them  all,  so  that  when  the  living 
creatures  went,  the  wheels  went  by  them,  and  when  the  wheels 
stood,  the  living  creatures  stood,  and  all  were  lifted  up  from  the 
earth  together.    And  as  they  went  the  Prophet  heard  the  noise  of 
their  wings  like  the  noise  of  great  waters,  as  the  voice  of  the  Al- 
mighty, the  voice  of  speech,  as  the  voice  of  a  host  ;  and  when  they 
stood  there  was  a  voice  from  the  firmament  over  their  heads,  and 
above  that  firmament  was  the  likeness  of  a  throne,  and  upon  the 
throne  the  likeness  as  the  Appearance  of  a  Man,  from  the  loins  up 
like  amber  and  flame,  and  from  the  loins  down  like  fire,  and  girt 
about  with  brightness  like  the  bow  of  heaven.     This,  says  the 
Prophet,  was  the  Appearance  of  the  likeness  of  the  Glory  of  the 
Lord.   And  when  I  saw  it  I  fell  upon  my  face,  and  I  heard  the  voice 
of  one  that  spake.1     Upon  a  vision  so  amazing,  let  us  rather  be 
content  to  say  that  it  illustrates  wdiat  is    otherwise    taught, 
than  that  we  are  absolutely  sure  of  its  complete  interrelation. 
It  is  a  vision  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  ;  and  upon  the  throne  above 
all  this  glory  is  the  Divine  Kedeemer  in  the  likeness  of  our  na- 
ture.    Out  of  the  chaos  and  fury  of  all  human  things,  and  the 
fervor  and  the  vehemence  of  all  human  passions,  emerges  this 
sublime  representation  of  the  All-seeing,  All-ruling  Providence 
of  God,  whose  awful  wheel  resting  upon .  the  earth,  reaches  to 
heaven,  and  moving  side  by  side  with  all  living  things,  and  with 
the  immediate  symbol  of  his  presence,  the  wondrous  Cherubim, 
moves  by  an  impulse  which  directs  them  all.     The  prophetic 
empires  of  which  there  were  but  four — gathered  into  one  in  the 
vision,  though  the  living  creatures  wrere  yet  distinctly  four.    The 
empire  of  Providence,  suited  to  each  living  empire,  gathered  into 
one  wheel,  though  yet  distinctly  four.     The  Spirit  of  all  living 
things  the  same,  no  matter  how  divided  ;  the  Spirit  of  Provi- 
dence the  same,  no  matter  how  dissevered  ;  the  common  spirit 
of  both  so  far  united  that  both  relate  to  the  same  events  and  the 
same  movements,  and  that  both  march  together  across  the  track 
of  ages  ;  while  both  alike  are  subject  to  the  transcendent  domin- 
ion of  a  Divine  Spirit,  directing  all  living  things  and  all  provi- 
1  Ezek.,  i.  15-28,  x.  8-22. 


CHAP.  XXV.]  DIVINE     PROVIDENCE.  351 

dential  acts  to  one  most  glorious  consummation.  The  movement 
of  the  nations,  and  the  peoples,  and  the  empires,  however  terri- 
ble and  confused  it  may  seem,  and  however  wild  may  be  the 
noise  of  their  wings  like  the  noise  of  great  waters,  which  arc  their 
constant  prophetic  image  ;  yet  all  is  subject  to  that  voice  from 
the  firmament  and  the  throne  above  it,  and  the  Man  who  sat  on 
it  ;  whom  the  prophet  had  no  sooner  seen  than  he  knew  the  vis- 
ion to  be  the  appearance  of  the  likeness  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord. 
He  knew  it  was  a  representation  of  the  divine  glory,  as  it  is 
manifested  in  an  intimate,  irresistible  and  all-pervading  domin- 
ion over  the  created  universe.     And  so  I  use  it. 

'2.  Whoever  will  consider  attentively  any  one  of  the  immense 
and  apparently  boundless  elements  which  make  up  the  sum  of 
the  universe,  or  any  one  of  the  innumerable  and  glorious  ends 
which  unite  in  the  transcendent  chief  end  of  its  existence,  will 
perceive  that  the  idea  of  the  working  of  such  means  to  such  ends, 
throughout  all  time,  all  space,  and  all  existence,  independently 
of  an  Infinite  Providence,  is  the  most  transcendent  of  all  ab- 
surdities. What  then  can  be  said  of  the  folly  that  denies  to  all 
these  means  and  causes,  and  existences  combined  ;  and  to  all 
these  ends,  and  efTects,  and  operations  wrought  out  in  one  illi- 
mitable system  ;  the  necessity  of  any  direction  or  control — the 
presence  of  any  concurrence,  support-,  or  dominion  !  The  dec- 
larations of  the  Word  of  God  concerning  the  reality  and  the  na- 
ture  cf  his  Providence  over  all  things,  are  not  only  well-nigh 
innumerable,  but  the  very  end  of  any  Revelation  at  all,  involves 
the  existence  of  such  a  Providence  ;  and  the  whole  compass  of  the 
Eevelation  actually  made  implies  and  rests  upon  it.  Human  intel- 
ligence in  every  form  in  which  it  can  address  itself  to  such  a  sub- 
ject, finds  itself  incapable  of  escaping  the  conviction  that  there  is 
such  a  Providence  over  all  things  ;  finds  no  grounds  on  which  to 
reject  it,  except  grounds  which  subvert  the  primitive  laws  of  intel- 
ligence itself,  and  overthrow  the  foundations  of  human  knowledge. 
The  experience  and  observation  of  every  human  being  is  full  of 
proofs  to  himself  that  all  the  events  of  life  have  a  power  and 
significance,  less  or  greater,  but  essentially  different  from  that 
power,  which,  strictly  speaking  belongs  to  them  :  and  that  it  is 
this  power  external  to  their  own  essence  which,  whether  by  its 
excess  or  its  deficiency,  really  gives  to  all  actions,  all  events,  all 
causes,  all  occasions,  their  decisive  force.     And  the  entire  history 


352  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

of  the  human  race  is  one  perpetual  illustration  of  the  manner  in 
which  nature  and  man  are  subjected  to  a  controlling  and  direct- 
ing power  working  through  both,  but  predominant  in  the  dis- 
posal of  both.  A  power  which  leaves  to  human  actions  whether 
great  or  small,  whether  good  or  bad,  whether  free,  contingent  or 
necessary,  whether  absolutely  spontaneous  or  thoroughly  con- 
sidered, all  their  force  and  all  their  character  each  according  to 
its  kind  :  and  which  yet,  at  its  pleasure,  mocks  all  that  force 
even  when  it  seems  to  be  irresistible,  and  at  its  pleasure,  gives 
to  that  force  even  when  it  is  most  feeble  an  uncontrollable  effi- 
cacy, and  at  its  pleasure  leaves  that  force  to  its  own  undisturbed 
results.  So  profound  is  the  reality  thus  asserted  by  Kevelation, 
by  reason,  and  by  all  experience,  and  so  thorough  is  the  connec- 
tion thus  established  between  God  and  man,  that  the  conviction 
of  a  Providence  is  not  only  the  deepest  of  those  convictions 
which  are  primitive  in  human  nature,  but  the  strength  of  that 
conviction  is  the  most  distinctive  mark  of  every  race  that  has 
made  itself  illustrious,  of  every  individual  that  has  lifted  himself 
high  above  the  level  of  his  kind.  Nor  is  there  any  mystery  in 
this.  For  not  to  discern  God  is  the  greatest  of  all  imbecility,  as 
knowingly  to  work  against  God  is  supreme  folly  :  while  to  dis- 
cern, to  trust,  and  to  co-operate  with  him,  is  at  once  the  way  of 
wisdom,  and  the  way  of  triumph. 

3.  It  has  been  repeatedly  said  that  v,Te  occupy  two  distinct 
relations  to  God,  in  one  of  which  we  are  considered  as  creatures, 
in  the  other  as  sinners  ;  and  that  God  considered  as  the  Creator, 
and  considered  as  the  Saviour  is  responsive  to  these  relations  of 
man.  Natural  Keligion  is  the  result  of  the  former  relation,  Ee- 
vealed  Keligion  is  the  result  of  the  latter  :  the  covenant  of  works 
is  the  exponent  of  one,  the  covenant  of  grace  is  the  exponent  of 
the  other.  The  Providence  of  God  has  reference  to  both  of  these 
relations,  to  both  of  these  religions,  to  both  of  these  covenants. 
The  religion  of  nature — the  covenant  of  works,  and  man's  pos- 
ture as  a  creature,  are  widely  modified  by  Eevealed  Eeligion,  the 
covenant  of  grace,  and  man's  posture  as  a  sinner  :  yet  nothing 
is  absolutely  abolished,  however  different  the  aspect  of  God  may 
appear  when  considered  as  the  author  of  nature  and  of  the  cov- 
enant of  works,  from  what  it  is  when  he  is  considered  as  the  Sav- 
iour and  as  the  author  of  Eevealed  Edition  and  the  Covenant 
of  Grace.     These  statements  are  designed  to  make  obvious  one 


CnAP.  XXV.]  DIVINE    PROVIDENCE.  353 

of  the  most  striking,  and  I  may  add  one  of  the  most  unobserved 
things  concerning  the  whole  course  and  nature  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence— namely  that  the  will  of  God  as  executed  by  his  Provi- 
dence, is  not  limited  to  the  will  of  God  as  revealed  in  his  word. 
The  whole  compass  of  the  will  of  God  is  not  revealed  in  his  word, 
but  only  the  whole  will  of  God  unto  the  salvation  of  penitent 
sinners.  The  whole  purpose  of  God  concerning  all  things  is  not 
revealed  in  the  Scriptures  ;  but  only  so  much  of  his  purpose  as 
will  suffice  to  make  those  Scriptures  a  perfect  rule  of  faith  and 
obedience  to  man  in  the  way  of  glorifying  God  and  enjoying  him 
forever.  The  Providence  of  God,  therefore,  as  a  perpetual  illus- 
tration of  his  will  and  a  perpetual  execution  of  his  purpose,  is  at 
once  a  commentary  upon  his  written  word,  and  a  supplement 
thereto.  He  acts  concerning  innumerable  things  which  have  not 
been  the  subject  of  any  special  revelation  :  and  concerning  in- 
numerable things  which  though  revealed  in  part,  are  not  revealed 
as  to  all  the  relations  in  which  God's  Providence  controls  them 
nor  all  the  ends  to  which  it  directs  them.  Amongst  those  omit- 
ted things,  or  things  only  incidentally  revealed  are  to  be  classed, 
in  general,  all  things  that  do  not  relate  in  some  manner  more  or 
less  distinct,  to  the  Messianic  Kingdom,  or  to  the  life  of  God  in 
the  soul  of  man.  And  how  immense  is  the  mass,  and  how  over- 
whelming is  the  complexity  of  these  omitted  things,  controlled 
and  directed  by  Providence,  but  unnoticed,  or  very  slightly 
noticed  in  the  word  of  God  ! 

4.  Let  me  illustrate  what  I  mean.  When  the  Lord  struck  the 
child  which  Uriah's  wife  bare  to  David,  he  besought  God  for  the 
child,  and  fasted,  and  went  in  and  lay  all  night  upon  the  earth. 
In  his  anguish  he  refused  to  be  comforted  by  the  elders  of  his 
house,  or  to  eat  bread  with  them.  On  the  seventh  day  the  child 
died  ;  but  his  servants  overcome  by  his  grief  feared  to  tell  him. 
When  David  perceived  that  the  child  was  dead,  he  arose  from 
the  earth,  and  washed,  and  anointed  himself,  and  changed  his 
apparel,  and  came  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  worshipped  ; 
and  then  came  to  his  own  house  and  required  bread  and  eat. 
His  servants  greatly  astonished,  said,  thou  didst  fast  and  weep 
for  the  child  while  it  was  alive,  but  wdien  the  child  was  dead 
thou  didst  rise  and  eat  bread.  And  he  said,  while  the  child  was 
yet  alive  I  fasted  and  wept :  for  I  said  who  can  tellwmether  God 
will  be  gracious  to  me,  that  the  child  may  live  ?    But  now  he  is 


354  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

dead  wherefore  should  I  fast  ?  Can  I  bring  him  back  again  ? 
I  shall  go  to  him,  but  he  shall  not  return  to  me.1  Now  here  is 
the  secret  purpose  of  the  Lord,  wholly  unknown  to  his  beloved 
servant,  and  here  is  that  servant  beseeching  God  to  avoid  the 
execution  of  that  purpose,  so  long  as  he  did  not  know  what  God 
would  do  :  but  the  moment  he  knew,  by  a  severe  stroke  of  Provi- 
dence what  the  Avill  of  God  was,  promptly  accepting  it  and 
drawing  comfort  from  its  bearings  on  his  own  immortal'  destiny. 
It  is  a  great  rule  of  duty  for  us  :  a  clear  illustration  of  a  subject 
of  the  highest  importance  The  Providence  of  God  falls  out 
according  to  his  whole  will,  a  very  large  part  of  which  is  wholly 
secret  as  to  us,  and  can  be  known  only  by  the  event.  As  soon 
as  it  is  thus  made  known,  it  becomes  not  only  a  rule  of  duty  to 
us,  but  is  never  without  elements  of  consolation  to  us.  But  un- 
til it  is  thus  put  in  execution,  it  is  wholly  beyond  our  power  to 
make  it  a  means  of  knowledge,  of  faith  or  of  obedience.  And 
such  is  the  general  order  of  Providence — and  such  are  the  rela- 
tions of  God's  secret  and  God's  revealed  will  to  it,  to  each  other, 
and  to  us.  We  are  not  to  suppose  however  that  the  case  now 
stated  is  a  just  illustration  of  the  distinctness  with  which  the 
secret  purpose  of  God  is  ordinarily  disclosed  to  us  by  his  Provi- 
dence. There  are  many  considerations  which  ought  to  satisfy  us 
of  the  contrary,  and  make  us  perceive  that  at  the  most,  the 
knowledge  of  the  will  of  God  disclosed  in  his  Providence  can 
only  illustrate  and  supplement,  but  can  never  properly  control, 
much  less  contradict  his  will  as  made  known  to  us  by  his  blessed 
word. — It  is  a  means  of  knowing  God  :  to  the  wise  and  pure  in 
heart  a  most  fruitful  and  precious  means  :  nay  a  means  very  pe- 
culiar in  itself,  and  opening  up  a  knowledge  of  the  will  of  God 
not  otherwise  attainable  by  man.  On  these  very  accounts  to  be 
cherished  assiduously,  but  with  that  self  watchfulness  dictated 
by  a  sense  of  the  feebleness  of  our  iaculties,  the  shortness  of  our 
lives  as  contrasted  with  the  endless  sweep  of  the  plans  of  God, 
and  the  narrow  portion  of  his  infinite  acts  which  is  submitted  to 
our  personal  consideration. 

III. — 1.  The  highest  evidence  which  the  Scriptures  could 
give  us  of  the  estimate  winch  they  put  on  the  moral  nature  and 
the  moral  destiny  of  man,  as  compared  with  every  thing  else 
united  ;  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  they  are  in  a  strict  sense, 

1  2  Sail.,  xii.  15-23. 


CHAP.  XXV.J  DIVINE    PROVIP  E  N  C  E .  355 

no  revelation  at  all,  and  make  no  claim  nt"  i  \  except  ii  - 
dentally — touching  any  thins:  that  does  not  Lear  unon  that  moral 
nature  and  that  moral  destiny :  and  so  they  are  addrt 
absolutely  to  our  faith  and  are  a  rule  of  unqualified  obediei 
Nor  is  it  possible  to  imagine  how  they  could  give  a  mi  re 
exalted  proof  that  they  mean  to  teach  the  Supreme  Godhead 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  than  they  furnish  in  not  only  placing 
him  in  the  very  centre  of  the  moral  system  of  the  universe,  but 
in  placing  him,  considered  as  the  Saviour  of  sinuers,  absolutely 
over  the  moral  universe  as  its  ruler,  and  in  ascribing  to  him  as 
such  an  uncontrollable  dominion  overall  things.1  It  is  from  this 
point  of  view  that  providence  unfolds  itself :  and  it  is  to  rational 
creatures  considered  in  this  point  of  view  that  it  is  unfolded. 
The  whole  progress  of  the  human  race  is  one  grand  development 
of  Providence  :  every  event  in  history  is  an  incident  in  the  course 
of  Providence  :  every  result  of  every  act  of  every  human  being, 
is  an  item  in  the  overwhelming  sum  of  Providence  :  every  co- 
operation of  nature  is  an  element  in  the  stupendous  dominion 
thus  exerted.  If  any  thing  good  and  coherent  can  be  deduced 
from  the  confused,  irregular,  and  sinful  career  of  individual  men, 
it  is  far  less  attributable  to  human  reason  and  virtue  than  to  the 
controlling,  guiding,  and  overruling  Providence  of  God.  If  there 
has  been  any  real  and  uniform  progress  toward  whatever  is  great 
and  permanent,  exhibited  in  the  career  of  the  human  race,  it  is 
far  less  attributable  to  any  steadfast  apprehension  and  purpose  in 
it,  much  less  to  any  wise  and  heroic  pursuit  of  its  fixed  convic- 
tions, along  a  track  stained  with  blood  and  wet  with  tears,  than 
to  the  supporting  care,  and  the  watchful  love  of  the  Infinite 
God  who  has  guided  its  fierce  and  erring  steps.  To  say  that  ra- 
tional beings  can  be  conducted  through  endless  generations,  in 
such  a  manner  as  this,  and  still  fail  to  obtain  any  adequate 
knowledge  of  him,  in  whom  they  live  and  move  and  have  their 
being,  is  to  omit  the  material  portion  of  a  problem  so  strange. 
All  is  not  expressed  when  their  rationality  and  their  ignorance 
are  thus  grouped  together,  in  a  manner  apparently  self-contradict- 
ory, as  if  to  excuse  them  and  inculpate  God.  It  is  not  that  they 
cannot,  but  it  is  that  they  will  not  know  God.  They  are  igno- 
rant because  they  are  depraved,  and  in  defiance  of  their  ration- 
ality.    The  knowledge  of  God  which  is  attainable  they  do  not 

1  Eph.,  i.  20-23. 


356  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

like  to  retain  ;  so  much  as  they  know  of  him,  they  use  not  either 
for  his  glory  or  for  their  own  advancement.  And  so  God  gives 
them  up  to  their  own  vile  affections,  to  a  reprobate  mind  and  to 
strong  delusions.  And  then  no  lie  is  too  gross  for  belief,  and  no 
ignorance  too  deep  to  be  reached,  and  alas  !  no  pollution  too  re- 
volting to  be  rejoiced  in,  and  no  suffering  too  fearful  to  be  de- 
served !' 

2.  The  general  resemblance  of  what  may  be  called  the  System 
of  Providence,  to  the  general  system  deducible  from  the  work  of 
creation,  and  to  the  general  system  distinctly  taught  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  to  the  highest  and  clearest  conceptions  of  human  rea- 
son ;  undoubtedly  affords  a  distinct  and  impregnable  ground  of 
proof  of  the  unity  of  that  Infinite  Intelligence,  and  Will,  and 
Power,  which  pervade  the  universe  ;  as  well  as  a  manifold  dem- 
onstration of  the  nature  of  that  Infinite  Spirit  of  whom  these 
are  distinguishing  perfections.  If  we  will  carefully  consider  any 
one  of  those  great  and  immutable  principles  which  appear  to  un- 
derlie the  whole  course  of  Providence,  we  will  find  that  it  is  a 
principle  clearly  manifested  also  in  the  order  of  Nature,  dis- 
tinctly stated  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  fundamental  to  hu- 
man nature.  Take,  as  an  illustration,  the  extreme  Specialness 
of  the  Providence  of  God  :  that  grand  and  fruitful  peculiarity 
which  gives  such  distinctness  to  all  God's  dealings  with  men,  and 
which  on  that  very  account  is  so  hateful  to  every  form  of  Infi- 
delity. That  this  is  an  invariable  principle  upon  which  all 
Providence  proceeds,  is  self-evident  to  every  attentive  observer 
of  it.  There  is  not  a  human  being  who  cannot  recall  many  in- 
stances on  which  the  whole  tenor  of  his  subsequent  life  has  been 
controlled  by  events  or  decisions  which  seemed  to  him,  when  they 
occurred,  too  insignificant  to  require  consideration.  Not  one  who 
cannot  recall  many  other  events  which  were  unspeakably  pain- 
ful when  they  occurred,  out  of  which  have  come  by  an  irresisti- 
ble chain  of  other  events,  the  greatest  blessings  of  his  life.  Not 
one  who  cannot  recall  many  other  events  which  w^ere  denied  to 
his  strongest  efforts  and  desires,  and  which  would  have  inevita- 
bly ruined  him,  if  he  had  been  gratified.  Not  one  who  can  re- 
call a  single  event  of  the  very  least  consequence  in  his  life,  which 
did  not  require  innumerable  preceding  and  concurring  events, 
many  of  them  contingent,  many  apparently  fortuitous,  nearly  all 

1  Kom.,  i.  18-32 ;  2  Thess.,  ii.  1-12. 


CHAP.  XXV.]  DIVINE    PROVIDENCE.  357 

minute  and  apparently  inconsequent,  to  bring-  about  the  great, 
particular  and  derisive  event.  Now  all  this,  I  repeat,  is  in  a 
manner  sclf-evidently  true  of  the  whole  course  of  Providence  : 
and  it  involves  and  reveals  one  of  the  clearest  and  most  universal 
principles  upon  which  all  Providence  proceeds.  If  we  will  now 
appeal  to  human  reason,  nothing  can  he  more  obvious  than  that 
such  a  manner  of  Providence  is  the  only  manner  in  which  any 
Providence  at  all  is  possible.  Whatever  enters  into  an  end,  must 
constitute  a  part  of  the  means  ;  fur  the  end  is  not  otherwise  at- 
tainable ;  and  in  an  illimitable  series  of  dependent  causes  and 
effects,  where  every  cause  is  also  an  effect,  and  every  effect  be- 
comes itself  a  cause,  the  breaking  of  a  single  link  in  the  adaman- 
tine chain,  annihilates  the  whole  as  completely  as  if  every  link 
were  destroyed.  Upon  different  principles  there  may  be  an  in- 
finite succession  of  miracles,  which  men  may  see  fit  to  call  a 
course  of  Providence  :  but  there  can  be  no  ordinary  Providence 
— the  very  meaning  of  which  as  distinguished  from  chance,  and 
necessity,  and  fate,  is  the  execution  of  a  foregone  purpose,  unto  a 
determined  end,  through  the  intervention  of  causes  and  means. 
If  we  will  apply  next  to  Created  Nature,  her  response  is  prompt 
and  direct,  that  God  knows  no  such  distinction  as  the  cavil  im- 
plies ;  for  with  God  nothing  is  great,  nothing  is  small,  nothing  dif- 
ficult, nothing  easy.  Between  him  and  all  created  things  there  is 
a  gulf  so  immeasurable  that  distinctions  of  that  sort  lose  all  signifi- 
cance. For  any  thing  more,  his  whole  work  of  creation  is  intensely 
special ;  and  the  order  of  nature  does  not  more  distinctly  reveal  that 
there  ever  was  any  creation  at  all,  than  that  every  created  thing 
was  formed  in  a  manner  the  most  special,  and  in  no  other  manner, 
and  was  formed  unto  ends  most  special,  and  unto  no  other  ends. 
And  now  if  we  will  inquire  at  the  oracles  of  God,  their  answer 
is  the  most  precise  of  all :  Are  not  two  sparrows  sold  for  a 
farthing  ?  and  one  of  them  shall  not  mil  to  the  ground  without 
your  Father  :  nay,  the  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered.1 
And  so  in  all  that  concerns  us,  both  for  time  and  eternity.  The 
fundamental  principle  of  God's  dealings  with  each  one  of  us  is 
that  these  dealings  are  most  special.  Out  of  two  in  one  bed,  out 
of  two  grinding  at  one  mill,  out  of  two  found  in  one  field,  one 
shall  be  taken  and  the  other  left.2  And  -every  one  of  us  shall 
give  account  of  himself  to  God.3    It  is  not  meant,  in  any  of  these 

'Mat,  x  29,  30.  3  Luke,  xvii.  34-3G.  3  Rom.,  xiv.  12. 


358  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

great  departments  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  that  his  special  act 
exhausts  itself,  or  that  the  special  end  first  attained  accom- 
plishes all  his  purposes.  Far  otherwise.  But  it  is  meant  that 
the  Providence  of  God,  like  every  work,  and  act,  and  word  of 
God,  the  very  opposite  of  being  vague,  indeterminate,  or  inef- 
ficient, is  special,  precise,  and  effective. 

3.  The  grandest  illustration  which  the  universe  affords  of  the 
nature  and  ends  of  Divine  Providence  is  that  afforded  in  the 
career  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom,  as  studied  on  the  one  side  in 
the  divine  record,  and  on  the  other  side  in  its  actual  progress 
through  all  time.  It  is,  moreover,  that  aspect  of  Providence 
which  is  of  all  others  the  most  important  to  us  ;  and  in  the 
study  of  it  we  have  this  immense  advantage,  that  the  vast  period 
through  which  the  perpetual  illustration  runs  is  illuminated  at 
every  epoch  by  an  inspired  narrative  of  facts,  itself  confirmed  at 
every  step  by  prophecies  already  fulfilled,  and  tested  by  other 
prophecies  still  impending.  If  we  add  still  further,  that  whether 
by  means  of  the  Divine  Record  or  by  means  of  the  actual  life  of 
the  glorious  Kingdom,  every  great  interest  of  man  in  all  ages, 
every  empire,  every  people,  every  aspect  of  society,  every  stage  of 
civilization,  is  more  or  less  involved  in  the  grand  sweep  of  the 
inquiry  :  we  have  nothing  left  to  be  desired  toward  the  complete- 
ness and  the  certainty  of  the  conclusions  we  may  reach.  Thus, 
connecting  the  history  of  the  world  with  that  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  in  the  world,  the  whole  may  be  divided,  upon  the  very  ob- 
vious grounds  of  that  connection,  into  four  great  periods.  The 
First  extended  from  the  fall  of  man  to  the  Exodus  of  the  Ancient 
People  of  God  out  of  Egypt,  and  embraced  the  whole  period 
during  which  neither  the  Kingdom  of  God  nor  the  world  powers 
had  reached  a  development  much  beyond  that  of  the  household 
estate,  and  during  which  the  first  Sacrament  was  given,  and 
circumcision  alone,  as  an  outward  mark,  separated  between  the 
world  and  the  Church  under  its  Patriarchal  form.  The  Second 
Period  extended  from  the  Exodus  to  the  Babylonian  Captivity, 
and  embraced  on  the  one  hand  the  rise,  complete  development, 
and  fall  of  the  Theocracy,  and  the  giving  of  the  greater  part  of 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  embraced 
the  rise  and  triumph  of  the  Assyrio-Babylonian  Kingdom,  the 
first  of  the  universal  world  powers,  and  with  it  the  dawn  of  pro- 
fane history.     The  Third  Period  would  extend  from  the  Baby- 


CHAP.  XXV.]  DIVINE    PROVIDENCE.  359 

Ionian  Captivity  to  the  commencement  of  the  Millennium,  toward 
the  close  of  which  period  our  lots  are  supposed  to  be  cast  ; 
embracing  on  the  one  hand  the  restoration  and  subsequent  ex- 
tinguishment of  the  Jewish  Church  and  State,  the  advent  and 
ministry  of  Messiah,  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  min- 
istry of  the  Apostles,  the  giving  of  the  latest  portions  of  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures,  and  the  whole  of  the  Xew  Testament  Scrip- 
tures, and  the  establishment  and  subsequent  career  of  the  Mes- 
sianic Kingdom  under  the  Christian  dispensation  ;  and  on  the 
other  hand  the  rise,  progress,  and  overthrow  of  the  Medo-Persian, 
Macedono-Greek,  and  Koman  Empires,  the  three  remaining  uni- 
versal world  powers,  the  rise  and  progress  of  modern  civilization 
and  society  in  its  present  form,  and  the  rise,  culmination,  and 
decay  in  the  bosom,  respectively,  of  the  East  and  the  West,  of 
those  terrible  apostacies  of  Mahomet  and  of  Rome,  which  sought 
to  perpetuate  in  a  new  form  the  universal  dominion  offeree,  and 
which  have  filled  the  earth  with  pollution  and  blood.  The  Fourth 
Period  would  embrace  the  complete  and  triumphant  establish- 
ment and  glory  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom,  with  its  Millennial 
Pveign,  the  utter  destruction  of  the  World  Powers,  and  of  all 
that  opposes  and  exalts  itself  against  God,  the  perdition  of 
the  enemies  of  God,  the  glory  of  his  saints,  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  the  consummation  of  all  things.  Now,  it  is 
impossible  for  these  questions,  so  awful  in  their  grandeur, 
to  pass  across  the  mind  even  in  the  most  rapid  and  general 
manner,  without  our  seeing  in  every  statement  which  em- 
braces any  outline  that  is  intelligible;  that  there  is,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end,  an  invincible  connection  through  and 
through.  There  is  an  unavoidable  dependence  and  result,  shin- 
ing through  the  whole;  an  overwhelming  though  it  be  an  inar- 
ticulate force  predominating  through  all  generations,  over  all 
developments,  amidst  all  manifestations;  while  its  silent  and 
sublime  intelligence  bends  and  rules  and  masters  all  things, 
whether  free,  necessary,  or  contingent,  according  to  an  immutable 
purpose,  by  an  unalterable  will,  to  a  decreed  end  !  We  look 
back  through  thousands  of  years,  upon  tens  of  thousands  of 
events.  The  whole  career  of  man,  of  nature,  of  Providence  is 
open  before  our  eyes.  Now  extricate  the  idea  of  Providence 
from  those  ages,  those  events,  that  career;  and  what  is  left  ? 
The  attempt  is  mere  folly.     The  idea  of  Providence  is  the  very 


360  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK    IV. 

vital  principle  of  the  whole.  It  is  "by  it  alone  that  any  unity, 
any  order,  any  progress,  any  result  is  possible.  Without  it  there 
is  first  chaos  and  then  annihilation.  Practically,  the  sum  of  true 
religion  as  deduced  from  the  word  of  God,  may  he  expressed  by 
saying  that  our  will  is  swallowed  up  in  the  will  of  God.  Theo- 
retically the  sum  of  reason  and  experience  as  deduced  from  the 
course  of  Providence,  is  the  very  same  truth,  and  may  he  stated 
in  the  very  same  words.  A  result  not  less  striking  and  pregnant, 
than  it  is  certain  and  conclusive. 

IV.- — 1.  This  result  naturally  opens  to  our  consideration  an- 
other topic  directly  involved  in  this  inquiry ;  a  topic  extremely 
curious  and  difficult  in  itself,  having  its  root  in  the  connection 
of  other  intelligences  than  man — with  the  course  of  Divine 
Providence  as  it  relates  to  man.  Strictly  speaking  it  is  only 
through  Divine  Eevelation  that  we  have  certain  knowledge  of 
the  existence  of  any  rational  creatures  in  our  universe  excejit 
those  of  our  own  race.  Nevertheless  it  is  to  be  remarked  that 
the  whole  human  family  in  all  ages,  even  those  nations  and  races 
the  most  profoundly  ignorant  of  the  word  of  God,  and  those 
most  thoroughly  hating  and  rejecting  it,  have  cherished  as  a 
fundamental  article  of  all  forms  of  religion,  a  belief  in  the  exist- 
ence of  other  intelligent  beings,  not  of  our  race,  and  a  convic- 
tion of  their  intimate  connection  with  our  destiny.  Every  super- 
stition has  availed  itself  of  this  fixed  belief  of  mankind,  and 
peopled  the  earth,  and  the  air,  and  the  waters,  and  the  heavens 
and  hell  too,  with  innumerable  intelligences.  Some  ascending  to 
the  nature  of  Gods,  and  some  degraded  far  below  man,  but  all 
of  them  distinct  and  immortal  existences,  and  all  of  them  con- 
cerned more  or  less,  with  the  interests  of  our  race.  A  belief  so 
remarkable  and  so  nearly  universal,  however  it  may  have  arisen, 
must  necessarily  be  grounded  in  the  very  nature  of  man  ;  since 
its  invincible  permanence  can  be  accounted  for  in  no  other  way. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  an  analogous  belief  of  man  concerning 
his  own  spirit.  The  nearly  universal  belief  of  the  human  race 
has  been  that  man  thought,  and  willed,  and  loved,  and  hated, 
and  desired  and  the  like,  not  because  he  had  an  organized  body, 
but  because  he  had  a  spiritual  soul  ;  and  that  after  the  body 
had  perished  the  soul  would  still  exist — exist  forever — either  in 
connection  with  other  bodies  in  endless  succession,  or  in  a  sepa- 
rate state  without  any  body  ;  and  that  so  existing  it  would  con- 


CHAP.  XXV.]  DIVINE     PROVIDENCE.  3G1 

cem  itself  with  the  course  of  Providence  over  human  affairs. 
And  this  belief,  equally  universal  and  equally  remarkable  as  the 
foregoing  one,  must  like  it,  necessarily  be  grounded  in  the  very 
nature  which  took  it  up,  without  considering  whether  or  not  it 
was  able  to  give  a  precise  account  to  itself  of  it,  and  which 
cleaves  to  it  with  a  tenacity  wholly  disdainful  of  any  account  of 
the  matter  at  all.  What  the  Scriptures  teach  us  concerning 
this  latter  subject,  namely,  the  immortality  of  man,  has  been 
separately  discussed  in  a  previous  chapter.  What  they  teach  us 
concerning  the  former  subject,  namely,  the  separate  existence  of 
other  intelligences  and  their  relations  to  the  course  of  Provi- 
dence, both  as  its  objects  and  agents,  will  be  briefly  explained 
here. 

2.  The  Sadducees,  those  philosophical  infidels  of  the  ancient 
dispensation,  professed  to  believe  that  neither  angels  nor  spirits 
existed,  and  that  no  resurrection  awaited  man.'  Touching  these 
great  questions,  said  Christ  to  them,  Ye  greatly  err  :  and  the 
cause  of  your  error  is  your  ignorance  both  of  the  Scriptures  and 
of  the  power  of  God.  And  then,  as  to  the  matter  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, he  asserted  its  reality  and  pointed  out  that  it  was  revealed 
in  the  Jewish  Scriptures  :  and  as  to  the  condition  both  of  angels 
and  of  the  Spirits  of  the  Just  in  the  resurrection,  he  explained 
what  that  condition  was,  and  wherein  it  was  alike  in  both.2 
Neither  angels  nor  the  spirits  of  the  just  can  die  ;  the  latter  are 
equal  to  the  former,  and  are  the  children  of  God  and  the  children 
of  the  resurrection  ;  neither  the  former  nor  the  latter  marry  or 
are  given  in  marriage  :  in  fine,  the  latter  are  as  the  former.  Such 
is  the  substance  of  the  special  refutation  offered  by  Christ  to  the 
cavils  of  the  presumptuous  unbelievers  of  that  day.  The  Great 
Teacher  explains  the  truth  as  of  his  own  knowledge,  and  points 
out  how  it  was  contained  in  their  own  Scriptures.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  distinction  between  angels  of  God  strictly 
speaking,  and  the  children  of  God  and  of  the  resurrection,  as 
the  spirits  of  the  redeemed  are  called,  is  preserved  carefully  by 
the  Saviour  :  and  that  this  general  distinction  covers  the  entire 
spiritual  hosts.  All  of  them  are  either  complete  created  spirits  ; 
or  are  the  spirits  of  human  beings,  human  1  icings  that  is  in  theii 
glorified  estate.  The  latter  are  not  only  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus, 
ly  whom  they  have  been  redeemed  and  sanctified  and  glorified  ; 
1  Acts,  xxiii.  8.        *  Mat.,  xxii.  23,  33;  Mark,  xii.  18-27  ;  Luke,  xx.  27-38. 


362  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

but  they  are  all  of  one  original  race  :  no  longer  indeed  marrying 
and  giving  in  marriage,  and  therefore  multiplying  no  more,  but 
all  originally  begotten  and  descended  from  the  first,  and  in  a 
strict  sense,  the  only  created  humnn  being  ;  for  Eve  was  formed 
out  of  the  person  of  Adam,  and  the  human  body  of  Christ  was 
formed  out  of  the  substance  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The  former 
class,  on  the  contrary,  the  angels  strictly  speaking,  are  all  spirits 
and  nothing  more  ;  all  separately  created,  each  one  an  order  by 
himself  as  really  as  the  whole  human  race  is  but  one  order  :  and 
whatever  relations  may  exist  amongst  them,  are  wholly  different 
from  those  that  exist  amongst  human  beings  ;  and  whatever 
special  relations  may  exist  between  them  and  the  Godhead,  are 
essentially  different  in  many  respects,  from  those  which  exist  be- 
tween the  Godhead  and  the  human  race.  As  for  example, 
neither  person  of  the  Godhead  has  ever  taken  the  nature  of  any 
of  them  into  union  with  the  divine  nature  ;  nor  have  any  of 
them  been  made  partakers  of  the  divine  nature,  through  such 
regenerating,  sanctifying,  and  glorifying  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  them,  as  has  occurred  with  regard  to  every  saved  sinner.  We 
do  not  know  of  the  existence  of  any  intelligent  creatures  in  the 
universe,  except  the  two  classes  herein  described ;  embracing 
amongst  the  angels  those  that  have  fallen,  and  amongst  men 
those  that  will  be  finally  lost.  There  are  many  considerations 
leading  to  the  presumption,  perhaps  even  to  the  belief,  that  there 
are  such  creatures,  and  that  their  number  is  incalculable,  their 
diversities  boundless,  their  destinies  unspeakably  diversified  :  and 
that  the  bright  and  glorious  worlds,  if  indeed  they  are  worlds, 
which  stud  our  heavens  and  seem  to  crowd  illimitable  space,  are 
all  the  habitations  of  innumerable  beings  capable  of  knowing,  of 
enjoying,  and  of  glorifying  God.  Beings  created  indeed  for  the 
express  purpose  of  illustrating,  each  race  in  a  different  estate 
and  a  different  world,  some  peculiar  glory  of  the  Lord  ;  as  we. 
in  our  world  will  illustrate  the  glory  of  his  boundless  grace.  We 
do  not  know,  and  therefore  must  not  teach  as  a  part  of  that 
truth  which  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  any  thing  at  all  touch- 
ing these  sublime  and  seductive  mysteries. 

3.  It  is  most  expressly  taught  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  that 
these  angels  of  God,  speaking  now  of  all  complete  spirits  created 
by  him,  are  as  really  objects  of  his  adorable  Providence  as  human 
beings  are,  and  that  even  more  than  human  beings  they  are  the 


CHAP.  XXV.]  DIVINE     PROVIDENCE.  363 

agents  of  his  Providence.  Their  very  name  is  one  of  Office, 
rather  than  of  nature. — They  are  legates,  messengers  of  God, 
especially  designed  to  minister  unto  him  in  his  universal  domin- 
ion :  the  special  objects  of  that  ministry  being,  to  proclaim  the 
glory  of  God  ;'  to  declare  the.  purposes  of  God  ;a  and  to  execute 
the  decrees  of  God.3  They  are  incorporeal,  and  therefore  invisi- 
ble :4  being  spirits  they  are  endowed  with  intelligence,  and  will 
and  desires  :  an  intelligence  transcendently  above  ours,  both  in 
the  mode  and  in  the  objects  of  it  :  a  will,  in  the  freedom  of  which 
multitudes  of  them  fell/  and  the  rest  were  joyfully  obedient  to 
God :°  desires,  directed  always  to  those  things  which  concern  the 
glory  of  God.7  Their  power  transcends  our  conception  by  its  vast- 
ness,  as  well  as  by  the  methods  through  which  it  is  exerted  :  an 
example  of  which  and  of  their  providential  use  also  is  seen  in  the 
destruction  of  a  hundred  and  four  score  and  five  thousand  Assyrian 
soldiers  in  one  night,  by  a  single  angel,  and  so  entirely  without 
effort  on  his  part,  or  the  power  of  resistance  on  theirs,  that  noth- 
ing was  apprehended  till  the  dawning  day  revealed  the  slaughter 
of  the  enemies  of  Gocl.s  Their  number  is  altogether  inconceiv- 
able in  its  vastness.  The  Prophet  Daniel  saw  thousand  thous- 
ands ministering  unto  the  Ancient  of  Days,  and  ten  thousand 
times  ten  thousand  standing  before  him.9  All  created  at  first 
capable  of  falling,  an  immense  portion  of  them,  possibly  the 
third  part,  actually  fell.10  They  who  fell  not  are  confirmed  for- 
ever in  their  estate  of  glory  and  blessedness."  They  who  fell  are 
irrecoverably  lost.12  This  fall  of  the  angels  had,  in  its  results, 
the  most  intimate  and  enduring  relations  to  the  career  and  des- 
tiny of  the  human  race  :  for  it  was  under  the  temptation  of  the 
chief  of  them,  that  man  fell  :  and  the  whole  subsequent  career 
of  the  human  race,  has  been  one  ceaseless  struggle  against  the 
tempter  ;  and  its  final  deliverance  at  the  very  end  and  catas- 
trophe of  the  life  of  the  world,  is  to  be  signalized  by  his  being 
cast  into  the  Lake  of  torment.13  This  is  that  Dragon,  that  old 
Serpent,  which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan.14  Called  Satan,  with 
special  reference  to  his  prime  share  in  the  revolt  in  heaven,  and 

I  Isa.,  vi.  3.  a  Luke,  ii.  10.  3  Psalm  ciii.  20.  4  Luke,  xxiv.  39  ;  Psalm  civ.  4. 
s  Jude,  G.  6  Psalm  ciii.  20.  '1  Pet,  i.  12  ;  Eph.,  iii.  10  ;  Exod.,  xxv.  18-20. 
M  2  Kings,  xix.  35.     3  Dan.,  vii.  10.     10  Mat.,  xii.  26;  Luke,  viii.  30;  Rev.,  xii.  4. 

II  Luke,  xx.  36;  Mat,  xxv.  31 ;  1  Tim.,  v.  21 ;  Hcb.,  xii.  22  ;  Mark,  viii.  31. 

13  John,  viii.  44  ;  2  Pet.,  ii.  4 ;  Jude,  6.        "  Rev.,  xx.  passiin.        M  Rev.,  xx.  2. 


364  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

the  fall  of  the  angels  ;  called  that  old  Serpent,  as  the  deceiver 
of  our  first  parents  and  the  destroyer  of  the  human  race  ;  called 
the  Dragon,  as  the  merciless  persecutor  and  oppressor  of  our 
race  through  all  its  sinful  pilgrimage  ;  and  called  the  Devil,  as 
summing  up  in  one  fearful  term  his  appalling  character  and  his 
appalling  fate,  the  Liar-murderer  of  the  universe,  the  smoke  of 
whose  torment  ascendeth,  day  and  night,  forever  and  ever  I1 

4.  These  innumerable  spirits  good  and  evil,  fall  under  the 
Providence  of  God  in  a  twofold  manner.  They  are  objects  of  it 
and  they  are  agents  of  it.  Considered  of  themselves  as  the  mere 
objects  of  Divine  Providence,  if  neither  man  n'or  any  other  part 
of  the  universe  had  been  created,  these  mighty  spiritual  intelli- 
gences— in  all  their  countless  hosts,  separated  by  endless  grada- 
tions into  some  glorious  ordering  peculiar  to  their  nature,  and 
divided  in  twain  by  the  irreparable  ruin  of  those  who  fell ;  pre- 
sent to  us  the  dominion  of  God  in  his  infinite  providence,  in  an 
aspect  of  overpowering  extent  and  grandeur.  Considered  as  the 
agents  of  him,  whose  Providence  is  executed  by  messengers  who 
are  exalted  Spirits,  and  enforced  by  ministers  who  are  a  flame 
of  fire  ;  even  him,  whose  infinite  reign  extends  over  this  bound- 
less created  universe,  and  embraces  in  a  peculiar  manner  the  in- 
numerable beings  who  constitute  the  human  race  :  how  do  they 
exalt  the  awful  majesty  of  God,  the  boundless  efficacy  of  whose 
reign  covers  immensity  and  eternity,  and  is  conducted  expressly 
for  the  illustration  of  his  glory  !  Here,  as  everywhere  in  our 
contemplation  of  God,  the  thoughtful  spirit  receives  a  twofold  im- 
pression. On  the  one  side,  an  impression  of  the  incomprehensible 
nature  of  the  Infinite,  Self-existent  Creator  and  Euler  and 
Saviour  :  on  the  other  side,  an  impression  of  the  distinctness  ot 
the  proofs  of  his  existence  and  of  his  infinite  jJerfections  and  acts. 
There  is  so  much  that  we  understand  clearly,  and  there  is  so 
much  that  we  cannot  understand  at  all,  that  our  own  position  in 
euch  a  scene  of  things,  becomes  one  of  the  strangest  parts  of  the 
great  problem  of  existence.  In  this,  and  the  preceding  chapter, 
I  have  passed  in  review  those  manifestations  of  God,  which 
according  to  the  classification  previously  established,  bring  that 
problem  within  the  sphere  of  our  intelligence  naturally  consid- 
ered, and  by  means  of  the  works  of  God  as  the  Creator  and  Euler 
of  the  universe,  subjected  to  the  scrutiny  of  that  intelligence. 

1  John,  viii.,  44 ;  Rev.,  xx.  10 ;  Rev.,  siv.  9-12. 


CHAP.  XXV.]  DIVINE     PROVIDENCE.  365 

As  we  advance,  other  manifestations  of  God  coming  nearer  and 
nearer  to  us,  will  be  found  to  confirm  every  thing  we  can  know 
in  the  two  ways  already  pointed  out  ;  and  to  add  continually, 
both  to  the  extent  and  the  certainty  of  that  knowledge,  con- 
cerning the  means  of  obtaining  which  the  present  inquiry  is 
directed. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

GOD  MANIFEST  IN  HUMAN  NATURE:  THE  WORD  MADE  FLESH. 

I.  1.  Difference  between  the  manifestation  of  God  Naturally  and  Supematurally. — 
2.  The  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God.  Spiritual  system  of  the  Universe  from 
that  point  of  view. — 3.  Controlling  position  of  the  Christ  of  God. — II.  1.  Origin 
of  the  idea  of  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  Progress  of  it  across  all  ages,  and  all 
dispensations. — 2.  Utter  impossibility  of  salvation  for  sinners  without  it. — 3.  The 
Relation  of  the  knowledge  of  God  through  Redemption,  to  the  knowledge  of  him 
through  Creation  and  Providence. — 4.  Sum  of  the  knowledge  of  God  attainable 
through  his  Incarnation. — 5.  Appreciation  of  Christ,  considered  in  himself. — III. 
1.  The  effect  of  the  idea  of  the  Word  made  Flesh,  when  applied  to  all  possible 
Religious  Systems. — 2.  The  effect  of  its  gradual  development  upon  the  Scriptures 
themselves,  and  upon  the  Messianic  Kingdom. — 3.  Analysis  of  the  Resemblance 
and  Difference,  in  principle  and  proof,  of  the  manifestations  of  God  hitherto  con- 
sidered.— 4.  Relation  of  the  Analysis  to  all  possible  manifestations.  The  Word 
made  Flesh,  the  culminating  point.  Distinctness  of  the  method.  Elevation  at- 
tained.    Clearness  of  further  Progress. 

I. — 1.  There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  manner  in 
which  the  knowledge  of  God  is  brought  within  the  compass  of 
our  faculties,  as  exhibited  in  the  two  preceding  chapters,  and  as 
exhibited  in  the  present  chapter,  and  in  the  next  succeeding  one. 
The  work  of  creation  lies  open  to  our  scrutiny,  and  the  dominion 
of  God  is  palpably  around  us  and  over  us  ;  and  our  means  of 
knowing  him,  both  as  our  Creator  and  as  our  Ruler,  are  such  as 
in  their  nature  are  level  to  the  natural  capacity  of  man,  and 
in  their  reality  are  as  absolutely  certain,  and  as  personally  cog- 
nizant to  one  generation  as  to  another — to  all  generations  alike. 
Whatever  difference  there  may  be  is  a  difference  of  degree,  and 
in  that  respect  the  latest  generations  ought  to  possess  the 
highest  degrees  ;  since  the  progress  of  knowledge  ought  to  reveal 
the  Creator  more  and  more  clearly,  and  the  progress  of  time 
ought  to  unfold  continually  the  course  of  Providence.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Incarnation  of  the  Godhead  is  in  itself,  and  in 
all  its  effects,  wholly  supernatural,  and  being  so  must  be  so  con- 


CHAP.  XXVI.]  THE    WORD    MADE    FLESH.  367 

sidered,  if  we  are  to  derive  therefrom  the  true  knowledge  of  God: 
and  the  presence  and.  operation  in  the  universe  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  with  direct  and  universal  relevancy  to  that  Divine  Incar- 
nation, is  assuredly  no  less  supernatural  than  it.  It  is  another 
way  of  the  manifestation  of  God  altogether,  from  the  way 
hitherto  contemplated  under  the  twofold  aspect  of  Creation  and 
Providence.  A  way  which  approaches  ns  and  influences  us  after 
a  manner  wholy  distinct  from  us,  and  wholly  supernatural  in 
itself.  For  we  are  a  part  of  creation  and  we  are  immediately  in- 
volved in  the  course  of  Providence  ;  and  in  both  respects  we 
come  directly  within  the  sphere  of  these  sublime  manifestations 
of  God.  But  the  Incarnation  of  God  transcendently  superna- 
tural as  it  is,  is  also  exclusive  of  every  individual  man  except 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  ;  and  in  that  sense  absolutely  includes  human 
nature,  but  precludes  every  other  personality  of  human  kind. 
And  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  whatever  human  being  is  a 
work  from  without,  absolutely  supernatural  in  itself.  And  there- 
fore both  the  one  and  the  other,  though  they  be  transcendent 
manifestations  of  God  not  only  to  us  but  in  us — become  so  in  a 
manner  not  spontaneous  to  nature,  and  yet  not  inconsistent  with 
nature — far  less  contrary  to  it :  but  in  a  manner  beyond  nature, 
and  so  in  strict  accordance  with  the  facts,  and  in  strict  propriety 
of  speech,  in  a  supernatural  manner,  whether  reference  be  had 
to  the  manifestations  themselves,  or  to  their  effects  upon  us. 
By  the  former  methods,  so  to  speak,  the  knowledge  of  God  is 
brought  to  us  ;  by  the  latter  methods  we  are  brought  to  it. 

2.  The  great  object  of  the  written  Word  of  God,  is  God 
manifest  in  the  Flesh.  That  written  Word  may  be  considered 
as  a  divine  record,  and  so  an  infallible  rule  of  our  faith  and  obedi- 
ence ;  or  it  may  be  considered  only  as  the  annals  of  the  Jewish 
race,  containing  their  history,  their  polity  and  their  literature- 
embracing  in  a  special  manner  the  lives  and  institutions  of  Moses 
and  of  Jesus.  Considered  even  in  this  latter  point  of  view,  it  is 
itself  the  repository  of  the  main  facts  upon  which  we  are  to  base 
our  estimate  of  the  reality  of  the  perpetual  claim  set  up  therein, 
to  be  a  divine  record,  and  of  the  value  of  the  perpetual  assurance 
of  the  coming  of  Messiah  as  God  Manifest  in  the  Flesh.  Con- 
sidered in  the  former  light,  there  is  no  need  that  I  should  reca- 
pitulate here,  what  I  have  employed  no  less  than  seven  chapters 
to  illustrate  and  enforce — namely,  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  Per- 


368  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

son  and  Work  of  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.  In  whatever  light  we  see  fit  to  consider  these  writings, 
they  present  to  us  in  the  most  distinct  manner,  the  Prophetic 
Messiah,  and  the  Historic  Christ.  And  it  is  for  us  to  ascertain 
that  these  two  are  one — to  gather  up  the  idea  they  present  ot 
him,  to  estimate  the  origin  and  development  of  that  idea,  and 
to  determine  for  ourselves  how  justly  they  ground  their  invinci- 
ble conviction  that  he  was  Immanuel,  and  as  such,  the  Mediator 
between  God  and  man,  and  so  the  Great  Teacher,  the  Divine 
Eedeemer,  the  Infinite  Euler.  Whatever  else  may  be  obscure, 
this  at  least  is  clear  beyond  mistake,  that  herein  is  a  distinct 
view  of  the  Spiritual  System  of  the  universe,  totally  unknown 
to  human  reason  and  to  natural  religion.  God  has  passed  over 
from  being  the  mere  Creator  and  Euler  of  his  creatures  and  has 
become  Incarnate,  that  he  might  be  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  This 
stupendous  mystery  is  the  one  ruling  conception  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. Its  motive,  the  time  and  circumstances  and  mode  of  its 
occurrence,  its  nature  as  a  manifestation  of  God,  its  influence 
upon  the  fate  of  the  universe  and  especially  upon  the  destiny  of 
man,  the  method  by  which  its  effects  are  to  be  realized  upon 
earth  and  in  heaven,  through  time  and  eternity ;  these  are  the 
sublime  themes  of  all  Scripture  given  by  Inspiration  of  God.  It 
is  no  longer  Creation  only,  nor  Providence  only,  but  embracing 
both — the  great  topic  becomes  Grace.  All  the  propositions  which 
involve  all  knowledge  of  God,  become  more  intense  and  more 
strict.  What  was  an  earnest  hope,  becomes  a  positive  convic- 
tion ;  for  it  is  a  faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.1  What 
was  common  before  becomes  personal,  what  was  special  becomes 
specific.  Before,  God's  mercies  came  upon  the  good  and  the 
evil — his  blessings  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust — his  goodness 
upon  every  living  thing.  But  here  are  transcendent  glory  and 
blessedness  ;  and  insuperable  limitations  follow.  All  access  to 
the  absolute  God  is  closed  forever  ;  no  man  henceforward  to  all 
eternity,  knoweth  the  Father  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomso- 
ever the  Son  will  reveal  him.3  This  is  the  first  limitation  upon  the 
Grace  of  God,  that  it  must  flow  through  a  Mediator ;  and  the 
second  is  like  unto  it.  For  as  there  is  but  one  God,  so  there  is 
but  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men  ;  there  never  was,  there 

1  1  Tim.,  i.  15.  '  Mat,  xi.  37. 


CHAP.  XXVI.]  T  II  E     WORD     MADE     FLESH.  3G9 

never  will  be  another.1  And  the  third  limitation  fixes  with  infi- 
nite precision  the  person,  the  motive,  and  the  way.  It  i.s  the 
Man  Christ  Jesus,  who  is  that  only  Mediator  ;'-'  for  there  is  none 
other  name  under  heaven,  given  amongst  men,  whereby  we  must 
be  saved  ;3  for  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  bis  only  be- 
gotten Son,  that  whosoever  believe fch  in  him  might  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life  I4 

3.  Concerning  the  existence  of  God  ;  the  stupendous  facts 
which  in  a  manner  control  all  other  facts,  may  be  considered 
such  as  these,  namely,  that  he  is  wholly  distinct  from  the  uni- 
verse— that  he  is  an  Infinite  personal  God — that  there  is  perfect 
unity  of  his  Infinite  Spiritual  Essence— that  there  is  a  Trinity 
of  persons  subsisting  in  that  essence.  The  stupendous  facts  con- 
cerning Human  Nature  arc  such  as  these,  namely,  thnt  it  was 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  and  lost  that  image  by  sin — that 
God  has  taken  it  into  indissoluble  union  with  the  divine  nature 
— that  it  will  be  transcendently  manifested  to  the  universe  at 
the  second  coming  of  the  glorified  God-Man — that  death  will 
deliver  it  up  in  a  glorious  resurrection  to  an  immortal  existence. 
It  is  this  God  who  is  manifested  in  this  human  nature.  On  the 
one  side,  the  Second  person  of  the  Godhead  ;  on  the  other  side, 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  of  the  seed  of  Abraham  ;  of  the  twro  natures, 
one  person — the  Christ  of  God.  The  Word  was  made  flesh  and 
dwelt  among  us,  says  the  Apostle  John,  and  we  beheld  his  Glory, 
the  Glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace 
and  truth.'  The  form  of  God  and  the  form  of  a  Servant  were 
united  in  him  ;  the  mind  which  thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal 
with  God,  and  the  mind  which  became  obedient  unto  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross  ;  the  end  of  which  was,  his  infinite  exalta- 
tion over  the  whole  universe,  the  homage  of  every  creature  therein 
to  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  the  confession  of  every  tongue  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.8  And  the 
effect  upon  us  was  designed  to  be,  that  the  same  mind  should  be 
in  us,  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus.  On  the  one  hand  a  boundless 
self-abnegation  ;  on  the  other  a  true  appreciation  of  our  being 
the  children  of  God  and  the  brethren  of  Christ ;  and  as  the  end 
that  we  should,  as  joint  heirs  with  him,  obtain  an  inheritance 
incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in 


1  1  Tim.,  ii.  5. 

2  1  Tim.,  ii.  5. 

5  Acts,  iv.  12. 

*  John,  iii.  16. 

6  John,  i.  14 
24 

8  Phil.,  ii.  5-11. 

370  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

heaven  for  us,  who  are  kept  hy  the  mighty  power  of  God,  through 
faith,  unto  salvation.1 

II. — 1.  This  conception  of  God  manifested  in  human  nature 
did  Dot  originate  with  the  Scriptures,  nor  is  it  equally  distinct  in 
every  part  of  them — nor  did  all  the  sacred  writers  possess  it  to 
the  same  extent,  nor  with  the  same  clearness.  During  twenty- 
five  of  the  forty  centuries  which  preceded  the  birth  of  Christ,  no 
part  of  the  written  word  appears  to  have  existed  :  and  the  min- 
istry of  angels,  the  immense  duration  of  human  life,  and  the  be- 
stowment  by  God  of  the  spirit  of  Inspiration  upon  his  servants, 
supplied  the  lack  of  a  precise  and  permanent  divine  record,  such 
as  we  now  possess.  What  is  to  be  observed  is,  that  it  was  fr  nn 
the  very  beginning  that  this  conception  of  Messiah  makes  itself 
manifest ;  not  at  all  as  a  speculation,  and  not  merely  as  a  belief, 
but  as  the  very  fountain  of  spiritual  life  to  every  child  of  God, 
and  as  the  very  foundation  on  which  the  Spiritual  System  actu- 
ally administered  by  God,  was  explicable  to  man.  In  this  man- 
ner the  sublime  conception  passed  from  breast  to  breast,  and  from 
age  to  age,  the  very  channel  of  its  descent  through  the  genera- 
tions marked  out  to  us  in  the  very  earliest  monuments  of  our  race, 
till  it  made  its  lodgement,  purely  and  simply,  in  the  written  word 
at  the  very  origin  of  this  new  form  of  preserving  and  transmit- 
ting divine  truth.  Thus  Moses  takes  it  up,  and  claiming  to 
speak  with  God  as  one  speaks  with  a  familiar  friend,  he  attrib- 
utes to  God  himself  the  origin  of  the  conception  of  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh  :  points  out  with  perfect  distinctness  its  first  utter- 
ance by  God  in  the  very  act  of  passing  sentence  upon  our  first 
parents  and  their  destroyer  ;  traces  its  progress,  as  the  living  prin- 
ciple of  the  Messianic  kingdom  down  to  his  own  day  ;  and  then 
lays  it  at  the  foundation  of  all  his  own  wonderful  institutions  : 
Restitutions  whose  very  object  was  to  organize  that  very  Messi- 
anic kingdom  in  the  form  of  a  Theocracy,  till  the  God-man  should 
himself  appear.  We  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  ancient  method 
of  transmitting  this  sublime  conccj)tion  was  abolished  when  the 
conception  itself  was  reduced  to  a  clear  statement  and  made  a 
part  of  the  written  word  ;  nor  that  the  conception  itself,  thus 
lodged  in  a  distinct  form  in  the  written  word,  needed  no  further 
development.  The  truth  is  far  otherwise  in  both  respects.  The 
conception  of  God  manifest  in  human  nature,  has  dwelt  in  the 

1  1  Peter,  i.3-9 


CnAP.  XXVI.]  THE     WORD     M  A  D  E     FLESH.  371 

heart  of  every  child  of  God,  only  the  more  distinctly  by  the  help 
of  the  written  word  ;  and  has  passed  in  that  way,  from  heart  to 
heart,  and  from  age  to  age,  across  the  generations,  since  as  be- 
fore. And  during  about  sixteen  centuries,  beginning  with  Moses 
and  terminating  with  the  Apostle  John,  and  embracing  every  in- 
termediate writer  of  every  portion  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  we 
have  this  overruling  idea  wrought  out  continually,  and  in  every 
form.  Not  is  it  possible  for  us  to  imagine  that  even  yet  we  have 
reached  the  whole  length,  and  breadth,  and  depth,  and  height 
of  the  boundless  riches  of  this  mystery  of  grace.  The  consum- 
mate triumph  of  the  Messianic  kingdom  is  yet  future  ;  the  sec- 
ond coming  and  reign  of  the  Messiah  are  still  before  us  ;  the 
glories  of  eternity  are  yet  to  come  ;  and  notwithstanding  all  the 
Spirit  of  God  has  revealed  unto  us,  the  full  amount  of  what  God 
has  prepared  for  them  who  love  him,  has  never  entered  into  the 

heart  of  man.1 

i 

2.  It  has  been  demonstrated,  as  I  think,  that  the  ruin  of 
the  human  race  is  not  only  absolute  but  irremediable,  when  con- 
sidered from  any  natural  point  of  view  :  and  that  a  divine  inter- 
position was  wholly  indispensable  in  order  to  prevent  its  uni- 
versal perdition.  It  has  also  been  demonstrated,  as  it  appears 
to  me,  that  the  Incarnation  of  the  Godhead  was  the  single 
method  by  which  an  effectual  interposition  for  the  rescue  of 
mankind  was  possible.  But  the  matter  goes  even  further  than 
this  :  for  it  may  be  confidently  asserted  that  in  the  actual  con- 
dition of  man,  there  is  a  total  impossibility  of  God's  making 
himself  completely  known  to  man  in  order  to  his  Salvation — 
except  by  means  of  the  Incarnation  of  himself ;  nay  further,  that 
the  divine  Scriptures  themselves  which  purport  to  reveal  the 
way  of  our  deliverance,  become  utterly  nugatory  and  incompre- 
hensible as  an  adequate  means  of  salvation  for  sinful  men — ex- 
cept they  are  allowed  to  be  grounded  on  the  fundamental  con- 
ception of  the  Word  made  flesh.  Our  relations  to  God,  and 
God's  relations  to  the  universe,  and  the  relations  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  both  to  God  and  to  us,  and  the  intimate  nature  both 
of  God  and  of  man  as  both  natures  are  involved  in  these  sev- 
eral relations  ;  all  is  inexplicable  as  tending  toward  the  recovery 
of  our  lost  race — all  is  clear  and  explicable  as  tending  directly  to 
our  perdition  as  sinners — until  the  idea  of  a  Saviour,  God-man, 

1 1  Cor.,  il  9,  10. 


372  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

and  so  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  is  clearly  brought  to 
light.  It  is  then  that  a  new  knowledge,  and  with  it  a  new  and 
glorious  hope,  become  our  heritage.  It  is  then  that  we  obtain 
a  distinct  knowledge  of  the  mode  of  God's  existence,  as  being 
that  of  three  persons  in  one  essence  ;  and  a  clear  conception  of 
the  influence  of  that  fact  upon  our  own  destiny.  It  is  then  that 
we  arrive  at  clear  views  of  all  the  perfections  of  the  Divine  Na- 
ture, and  perceive  how  they  all  harmonize  through  such  a  Mes- 
siah as  this,  in  the  restoration  of  fallen  man.  It  is  then  that 
we  are  able,  through  the  realization  of  this  superhuman  concep- 
tion, manifested  before  us  in  the  person  of  Christ,  and  developed 
in  the  whole  work  of  Christ ;  really  to  come  unto  God  by  him, 
and  assuredly  to  experience  that  whosoever  thus  comes,  will  in 
no  wise  be  cast  out.1 

3.  Now  let  us  observe  how  every  end  which  is  proposed  in 
creation  and  in  providence,  is  proposed  also  in  redemption — only 
that  other  glorious  ends  are  superadded  :  and  that  the  ends 
which  are  common  to  them  all  are  manifested  most  clearly  by 
this  last  method.  It  has  been  shown  abundantly,  that  the  sub- 
jective reason  for  the  creation  of  the  universe  and  all  things 
in  it,  can  be  found  only  in  God  himself,  and  that  the  objective 
reason,  which  alone  is  to  be  found  in  the  universe  itself,  is  the 
supreme  conformity  of  this  particular  universe  to  the  subjective 
reason  existing  in  God.  That  subjective  reason  is  the  purpose 
of  God  to  manifest  his  own  glory  to  the  intelligent  universe — 
in  a  way  of  the  greatest  blessedness  to  his  creatures.  As  the 
infinite  Euler  of  the  universe,  the  whole  course  of  his  Providence 
is  directed  to  the  execution  of  the  very  same  purpose  of  God  : 
namely,  the  highest  illustration  of  all  his  perfections  to  his 
whole  universe  ;  doing  this  in  such  a  way  as  bestowed  on  his 
creatures  the  greatest  felicity  consistent  with  that  chief  end. 
And  now  the  work  of  Eedemption,  bearing  still  more  directly 
upon  the  same  supreme  object,  and  springing  from  precisely  the 
same  infinite  motive — brings  to  light  a  new  aspect  of  the  glory 
of  God,  unknown  to  Providence  considered  of  itself;  just  as 
Providence  had  brought  to  light  a  new  aspect  of  his  glory  un- 
known to  creation,  considered  of  itself.  And  the  blessedness  of 
the  creature,  as  far  as  the  chief  end  of  every  work  of  God  allowed 
to  be  possible,  which  shines  so  conspicuously  as  the  purpose  of 

1  John,  vi.  37. 


CHAI\  XXVI  ]  TIIE    WORD    MADE    FLESH.  373 

God  in  creation,  and  becomes  so  much  more  illustrious  in  Provi- 
dence— rises  so  high  in  Redemption  as  to  seem  almost  inseparable 
from  that  very  glory  of  God,  which  is  his  chief  motive.  As  if 
we  should  say,  this  blessedness  of  the  creature  which  seemed  to 
be  a  great  but  incidental  end  in  the  glory  of  creation,  and  to 
mount  almost  to  equality  in  the  glory  of  Providence,  becomes 
in  Redemption  the  very  manner  of  the  glory  itself !  To 
which  this  is  to  be  added,  that  whereas  in  creation  we,  who 
are  so  deeply  implicated  in  every  work  of  God,  can  be  considered 
merely  as  creatures,  and  in  Providence  can  be  considered  only  as 
the  subjects  of  an  infinite  moral  Kulcr,  become  in  Redemption 
the  very  children  of  God  !  And,  to  add  one  more  element  to  the 
glory  of  God,  and  to  our  own  blessedness,  we  who  at  the  best 
are  but  unprofitable  creatures,  and  unthankful  subjects,  and  dis- 
obedient children,  are  made  partakers  of  an  infinite  weight  of 
glory,  only  through  the  eternal  love  of  God,  manifested  not  only, 
but  made  efficacious  through  the  sacrifice  of  his  only  begotten 
Son.1  It  would  indeed  be  idle  to  set  about  proving  that  these 
things  teach  us  somewhat  concerning  God.  They  carry  us  in 
truth  into  the  heart  of  God — the  very  focus  of  all  knowledge  of 
him.  And  in  the  very  midst  we  are  confronted  with  that  sub- 
lime unity  of  purpose  and  working  which  shines  forth  in  every 
manifestation  of  God  :  wherein  every  thing  that  precedes,  though 
it  seemed  complete  in  itself,  becomes  still  more  perfect  as  a  part 
of  all  that  follows.  So  that  creation  becomes  more  glorious  as 
we  view  it  under  the  light  thrown  on  it  by  the  course  of  Provi- 
dence ;  and  Providence  assumes  a  more  wondrous  aspect  as  soon 
as  its  relation  to  Redemption  is  disclosed  ;  and  Redemption,  too, 
exhibits  new  riches,  both  of  Grace  and  Glory,  as  it  is  contem- 
plated from  every  point  of  our  increasing  knowledge,  as  we  ad- 
vance towards  that  eternal  life  which  consists  in  knowing  the 
only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  has  sent.2 

4.  If  we  will  carefully  consider  what  it  is  we  actually  learn 
concerning  God  by  means  of  his  manifestation  in  human  nature, 
we  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  infinite  scope  of  the  ideas  we 
receive  in  that  manner.  Let  me  suppose  that  we  have  a  clear 
conception  of  the  chief  of  these  ideas  :  the  union  of  the  divine  and 
human  natures  in  the  being  called  Jesus  Christ,  and  proclaimed 
to  be  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  men  :  the  office  exe- 

1  Jo*in,  iii.  17.  :  John,  xvii.  3,  4. 


374  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOT,  [BOOK  IV. 

cuted  by  this  God-man,  namely,  that  of  Mediator  of  God's  eter- 
nal Covenant  of  Grace  :  the  execution  of  that  office  of  Mediator 
between  God  and  men,  comprehended  in  his  being  the  infallible 
Teacher  of  all  truth  and  all  duty ;  in  his  being  the  atoning 
Priest  and  the  all  prevalent  Intercessor  for  his  people  ;  and  in 
his  being  the  only  King  and  Kuler  of  the  Messianic  kingdom, 
and  as  such,  head  over  all  things  :  the  mediatorial  office  of  this 
God-man,  executed  in  that  threefold  manner,  first  in  an  cstato 
of  infinite  humiliation,  ending  in  his  crucifixion  as  an  atoning 
sacrifice,  and  then  in  an  estate  of  infinite  exaltation  upon  the 
throne  of  God  and  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father.  And  then 
let  me  suppose  that  we  have  also  a  clear  conception  of  the  chief 
of  the  corresponding  ideas,  concerning  the  inexpressible  change 
in  our  own  state  and  destiny,  which  is  designed  to  be  produced 
through  this  Incarnation  of  God  :  the  pardon  of  sin — the  total 
restoration  of  our  nature — redemption  from  hell — a  glorious 
resurrection — an  immortality  of  blessedness  in  a  future  state  of 
existence.  I  do  not  see  that  there  is  any  thing  either  in  Creation 
or  Providence,  more  remote  from  the  natural  apprehension  of 
man,  than  these  sublime  ideas  ;  nothing  assuredly  to  exceed  their 
infinite  scope. — Yet  as  means  adapted  to  ends,  nothing  can  be 
more  amazingly  effective,  more  perfectly  complete.  And  the  new 
light  they  throw  upon  all  we  knew  before  concerning  the  nature, 
the  character,  the  attributes  and  the  counsels  of  God,  immense 
as  it  is,  and  supernatural  as  the  manner  of  its  production  is  ad- 
mitted to  be  ;  is  as  distinct  to  the  understanding,  as  that  which 
accompanies  our  reception  of  any  new  truth  whatever.  It  may 
be  confidently  asserted  that  every  complicated  chain  of  Provi- 
dence, and  every  statement  of  any  act  of  creation,  is  incapable  of 
being  brought  to  the  intelligence  of  man  with  a  clearness  of  ap- 
prehension, equal  to  that  we  experience  in  perceiving  every  cap- 
ital truth  connected  with  the  manifestation  of  God  in  the  flesh. 
As  a  universal  test  and  rule  of  truth,  the  very  greatest  philoso- 
phers have  held  this  to  be  decisive.  That  there  is  in  truth 
itself,  a  licrlit  which  makes  its  own  nature  both  manifest  and  cer- 
tain,  can  never  be  called  in  question  as  long  as  any  truth  at  all 
can  be  said  to  be  self  evident  ;  any  more  than  it  can  be  doubted 
that  light,  which  reveals  all  things  else,  also  manifests  itself. 
And  thus  in  the  very  nature  of  these  immense  conceptions,  it  is 
more  certain  they  did  not  originate  with  us,  than  it  is  that  the 


CHAI\  XXVI.]  THE    WORD    MADE    FLESH.  375 

ideas  of  God  as  the  Creator,  and  of  God  as  the  Infinite  Ruler, 
did  not  originate  with  us:  while  in  the  very  distinctness  with 
which  we  perceive  them,  and  the  very  clearness  with  which  we 
construe  them  to  our  intelligence,  we  have  an  extraordinary 
proof  that  they  are  true. 

5.  The  weakness  of  our  faculties,  and  the  poverty  of  language 
as  compared  with  a  subject  like  this,  embarrass  all  our  attempts 
to  express  precisely  our  highest  conceptions.     It  is  very  common 
to  say  the  Bible  is  our  Eeligion,  which  is  true  in  the  sense  that 
the  Bible  is  an  infallible  account  of  our  Religion.     But  it  is 
strictly  true  to  say,  that  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  is  the  chief 
part  of  all  true  religion,  and  that  no  part  of  it  is  of  any  avail 
irrespective  of  him.     After  we  have  explained  in  detail  every 
particular  thing  that  relates  to  the  person,  and  work,  and  glory 
of  Christ,  and  explained  also  the  proportion  of  the  whole,  we  are 
not  satisfied  with  what  we  have  done,  or  can  do,  in  that  manner, 
but  feel  that  the  grand  impression  of  the  whole  is  not  adequately 
made,  not  fully  brought  out.     Christ  is  more  in  the  totality  than 
all  the  parts  we  are  able  to  gather  up,  set  forth  to  our  own  ap- 
prehension.    The   glory  which  his  fulness  of  grace   and  truth 
makes  manifest  is  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father ;' 
and   in  him  dwelleth  all    the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily." 
The  declaration  that  he  is  the  author  and  the  finisher  of  our 
faith  receives  a  peculiar  light  from  being  connected  immediately 
with  the  command  that  we  should  look  unto  him  /  for  it  is  from 
his   fulness  we   receive    grace  responsive  to   grace  ;   and   it   is 
while  with  unveiled  face  we  contemplate  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
that  we  are  transformed  into  the  same  image — glory  responsive 
to  glory.4*     All  good  in  the  creature,  whether  of  grace  or  glory, 
proceeds  from  Christ — is  the  product  of  Christ  in  us,  and  is  re- 
sponsive to  somewhat  in  Christ  :  and  the  whole  image  into  which 
we  are  transformed  is  the  image  of  Christ.     The  image  we  have 
lost  by  the  fall  is  the  image  of  God  ;  and  unto  that  we  must  be 
restored,  or  we  must  perish.     We  are  restored  to  it   in  a  new 
creation  of  which  God  is  the  model,  and  wherein  we  arc  renewed 
not  only  in  knowledge  and  in  rectitude,  but  in  that  especial  form 
of  holiness  which  is  the  product  of  divine  truth.5     In  all  this  new 
creation  unto  good  works,  while  we  are  the  workmanship  of  God, 

»  John,  i.  14.  3Col..  ii.  9.  3  Heb.,  xii.  2.  i  John,  i.  16  ;  2  Cor.,  iii.  18 

*  Xapiv  avTL  xapiroc — ano  «5o^f  elf  dogav.  *  Col.,  iii.  10  ;  Eph,,  iv.  2-k 


376  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

it  is  in  Christ  Jesus  that  the  whole  is  accomplished.1  But  what 
has  been  stated  really  embraces  every  thing — the  new  creation, 
all  grace,  all  glory,  complete  restoration  generally  in  knowledge, 
and  righteouness,  and  specially  in  that  peculiar  holiness  which 
divine  truth  teaches,  and  is  the  grand  instrument  in  producing  ; 
that  is,  the  righteousness  of  the  God-man,  by  which  we  are 
justified,  and  through  which  we  are  sanctified.  Christ  is  there- 
fore unto  us  life  itself,  in  every  true  and  spiritual  sense.  He 
is  the  embodiment  of  true  religion  itself — that  religion  which 
is  the  outbirth  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  which  expresses 
the  sum  of  the  relations  between  a  gracious  God  and  sinful 
men.  In  him  all  is  presented  to  us  in  a  personal  form,  in  a 
concrete,  living  manner.  The  written  word  is,  at  the  most, 
a  form  of  truth,  but  Christ  is  the  truth  itself.  All  separate  parts 
of  knowledge  and  of  righteousness,  precious  as  they  may  all  be 
justly  accounted,  derive  a  part  of  their  value  from  some  further 
end.  to  which  they  lead  ;  but  Christ  is  the  very  satisfying  end  of 
all !  In  the  full  possession  of  him,  we  lack  nothing,  we  need 
nothing,  we  desire  nothing  beyond.  If  we  could  extricate  the 
Word  made  flesh  from  every  thing  else  in  the  universe,  we  should 
have  a  complete  conception  of  every  perfection  of  the  Godhead, 
and.  every  thing  glorious  and  lovely  in  human  nature  united  in 
one  Being.  This  Being  is  the  Messiah  of  the  Old  Testament,  the 
Christ  of  the  New  Testament — God  manifest  in  Human  Nature. 
III. — 1.  The  manner  in  Avhich  the  idea  of  the  divine  incar- 
nation has  been  shown  to  have  originated,  and  to  have  been  prop- 
agated among  men,  is  the  only  one  which  renders  it  intelligible. 
I  may  add  that  it  is  not  otherwise  possible  it  should  have  re- 
ceived the  development  it  did  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  or  that 
it  should  occupy  the  position  it  does  toward  all  possible  religious 
systems.  In  the  latter  respect  the  power  of  this  conception  may 
be  illustrated  in  some  degree,  by  observing  that  it  produces  upon 
the  chaos  of  religious  ideas  to  which  man  has  given  birth,  an 
effect  similar  to  that  produced  by  the  conception  of  Providence 
upon  the  chaos  of  events  which  human  passions  produce.  We 
cannot,  without  wholly  subverting  human  intelligence,  admit 
that  utter  delusion  and  folly,  unmixed  with  any  truth  at  all, 
is  a  possible  result  in  any  system  which  reason  and  conscience 
accept  :  nor  could  we  allow  such   results  to  be  common  with- 

1  Eph.,  ii.  10. 


CHAP.  XXVI.]  THE     \V  O II  D     MADE     FLESH.  377 

out  impeaching  our  Creator  for  contriving,  and  our  divine 
Ruler  for  steadily  conspiring  our  destruction,  under  the  forms  of 
intelligence  and  moral  sense.  Talcing  every  system  of  morals 
and  religion  that  exists,  or  can  l>e  imagined,  when  it  is  subjected 
to  the  test  of  introducing  into  its  bosom  the  idea  of  the  Christ  of 
God.  precisely  as  that  idea  is  found,  at  any  stage  of  its  develop- 
ment in  the  written  word  :  what  occurs  is,  that  the  system  is  in- 
stantly rectified  and  reduced  to  order.  What  is  true  and  good  is 
ivered  and  located:  what  is  wholly  fills  e  is  disclosed  in  its 
deformity  :  what  is  distorted,  is  reduced  to  its  true  proportion. 
It  is  as  if  in  every  science  of  positive  truth,  nothing  certain  and 
final  could  be  obtained,  by  reason  of  the  omission  of  the  one 
grand  truth  which  regulated  the  innumerable  subordinate  truths, 
and  in  the  absence  of  which  confusion  and  mistake  characterized 
even  the  use  of  truth  itself:  but  as  soon  as  that  central  truth  is 
restored,  every  thing  falls  of  necessity  into  its  place,  or  if  it  finds  no 
place  is  rejected  as  untrue.  That  so  large  a  part  of  all  human  sys- 
tems of  morals  and  religion,  should  perish  under  such  a  test ;  that 
many  of  them  should  save  so  little  from  such  a  wreck  ;  is  only  one 
more  proof  of  the  necessity  of  a  divine  intervention  to  prevent  the 
perdition  of  our  race:  an  immense  illustration  of  the  sublime  efficacy 
of  the  method  in  which  that  divine  interposition  has  taken  place. 
2.  And  upon  the  former  of  the  two  points  suggested  at  the 
beginning  of  the  preceding  paragraph,  the  development,  namely, 
which  this  central  idea  of  true  Edition  has  received  in  the 
Scripture  ;  it  may  be  observed  that  the  Christian  dispensation, 
as  compared  with  the  Jewish  dispensation,  affords  the  most 
sublime  illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  the  mere  increased 
development  of  this  vast  conception  affects  a  system  in  which 
no  error  at  all  existed.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Jewish 
dispensation  was  not  only  a  dispensation  of  divine  truth,  but 
that  this  especial  truth,  in  a  certain  stage  of  it,  was  its  vital 
principle  :  and  yet  it  is  not  conceivable  that  the  Jewish  dispen- 
sation could  have  remained  as  it  was,  after  the  advent  of  the 
Saviour  of  the  World.  It  does  not  appertain  to  this  portion  of 
the  subject  to  point  out  the  nature  of  the  proof,  that  the  Scrip- 
tures are  of  divine  origin,  afforded  by  the  manner  in  which  they 
treat  the  whole  conception  of  the  God-man  :  but  it  is  pertinent  to 
remark  that  their  manner  of  treating  the  subject,  incontestably 
proves  that  both  the  idea  itself  and  its  whole  development  are  di- 


378  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

vine.  "Whoever  will  connect  the  primeval  intimation  that  the  seed 
of  the  woman  should  bruise  the  serpent's  head,  uttered  by  God  at 
the  fall  of  man;  with  the  apocalyptic  visions  of  the  glorified  Re- 
deemer, uttered  four  thousand  years  afterward  by  the  Apostle 
John;  and  will  then  fill  up  the  chasm  between  the  two,  by  care- 
fully tracing  through  till  time,  all  the  unfolding  of  that  first  ut- 
terance, up  to  the  inconceivable  Glory  and  Majesty  in  which  the 
King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  is  presented  when  all  revelation 
concerning  him  terminates;  will  find  himself  as  easily  persuaded 
to  believe  that  human  force  created  the  universe,  and  that  hu- 
man wisdom  is  the  vital  influence  in  Providence,  as  to  believe 
that  human  intelligence  has  conceived  and  developed  this  most 
amazing  part  of  all  the  manifestations  of  God.  It  is  in  this  con- 
ception that  the  turn  is  given  to  the  whole  Spiritual  System  of 
the  universe;  speaking  after  the  manner  of  men.  In  it  lies  the 
nexus  between  Natural  and  Revealed  religion;  between  universal 
morality  and  evangelical  holiness;  between  a  universe  of  crea- 
tures, under  the  curse  of  God,  and  a  universe  of  sinners  saved 
by  Grace;  between  the  Glory  of  God  as  partially  exhibited  and 
the  Glory  of  God  as  completely  made  known  to  his  intelligent 
universe.  If  it  could  be  rigorously  demonstrated  that  the  exist- 
ence of  any  God  at  all  is  simply  impossible;  human  intelligence, 
upon  a  complete  survey  of  all  that  is  involved  in  this  conception 
of  God  manifested  in  the  flesh — would  firmly  insist  that  he  who 
did  all  these  things  ought  to  have  been  God. 

3.  There  is  a  difference,  and  there  is  a  resemblance,  between 
the  nature  of  the  evidence  upon  which  the  facts  of  creation,  and 
the  facts  of  Providence,  and  the  facts  of  Redemption,  are  respect- 
ively established  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  human  mind.  This 
difference  and  this  resemblance,  are  in  many  particulars  very 
marked  ;  but  it  may  be  observed  in  general,  that  it  is  a  differ- 
ence and  a  resemblance  founded  on  the  nature  of  the  several 
cases.  In  each  of  them  a  manifestation  of  God  is  propounded  ; 
but  in  each  a  manifestation  which  is  widely  different  from  every 
other ;  and,  therefore,  each  one  must  necessarily  be  sustained  in 
part  by  evidence  common  to  all,  and  in  part  by  that  sort  of  evi- 
dence which  is  peculiar  to  itself.  It  may  be  added  that  the  fact 
of  there  ever  having  been  a  creation — and  the  fact  of  there  being 
any  intimate  and  universal  Providence;  are  facts  as  subject  to  be 
denied,  have  been  as  resolutely  denied,  and  are  just  as  necessary 


CHAr.  XXVI.]  THE    WORD    MADE    FLESH.  379 

to  be  proved,  and  perhaps  as  difficult  to  l>c  proved,  as  the  fact 
of  a  divine  Incarnation.  In  cncli  case  there  are  three  very  dis- 
tinct stages  of  the  inquiry.  The  first  is,  the  motive  which  led 
God  to  determine,  and  then  to  act  as  he  has  done  in  all  three 
cases;  and  about  this,  every  rational  creature  feels  it  to  he  a 
matter  beyond  all  cognizance  lower  than  that  of  God  himself; 
and  so  this  point  is  taken  to  be  sufficiently  explained  in  each 
case,  when  the  motive  is  lodged  in  the  breast  of  God,  and  he  is 
allowed  to  make  himself  the  motive  of  his  conduct.  The  second 
stage  is  the  manner  in  which  God  executes  these  great  designs, 
in  which  he  becomes  successively  manifest  as  Creator,  Ruler,  and 
Redeemer.  How  docs  he  create  a  universe  out  of  nothing  ? 
How  is  he  omnipresent,  being  a  personal  God  and  distinct  from 
the  universe  ;  and  how  are  those  infinite  perfections  and  infinite 
acts  to  be  explained,  which,  in  the  concrete,  we  call  Providence  ? 
How  is  the  Hypostatical  union  between  the  divine  and  human 
natures,  effected,  maintained,  and  directed  in  the  whole  matter 
of  the  Incarnation  and  its  results  ?  Here  again,  the  posture  of 
the  human  mind  is  the  same  with  reference  to  each  of  the  three 
ways  of  the  manifestation  of  God.  "The  manner  of  Creation,  of 
Providence,  and  of  Incarnation,  is  wholly  and  alike  inscrutable 
to  us  ;  and  beginning  at  the  beginning — the  first  fact,  namely, 
the  self-existence  of  an  infinite  and  eternal  first  cause,  is  the 
most  overwhelming  fact  the  mind  ever  encounters  ;  and  the  sec- 
ond fact,  namely,  the  creation  of  the  universe  out  of  nothing,  is 
inferior  in  its  utter  inscrutability,  only  to  the  self-existence  of 
the  Infinite  Creator.  The  third  stage  of  the  inquiry  brings  us 
in  each  case  to  the  same  point,  namely,  the  actual  occurrence  of 
the  grand  fact;  and  here  again,  to  a  certain  extent,  our  position  is 
precisely  similar  as  to  all  three  methods  of  the  divine  manifesta- 
tion, and  as  to  the  evidence  required  in  each  case.  We  desire  to 
be  certified  of  the  fact  itself ;  we  desire  to  comprehend  that  in 
reality,  it  is  a  manifestation  of  God;  we  desire  to  have  developed 
before  us,  the  significance  of  them  all  as  means  of  the  true 
knowledge  of  the  living  God.  It  is  at  this  third  stage  that  these 
three  great  manifestations  of  God  develop  themselves  differently 
and  demand  a  different  kind  of  evidence,  corresponding  in  each 
case  to  their  own  several  natures. 

4.  The  rational  faculties  of  man  preside  equally  over  every 
form  of  inquiry,  and  his  intelligence  must  decide  equally  upon 


380  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

every  species  of  evidence.  So  taken,  we  may  consider  the  evi- 
dence of  creation  and  in  creation,  as  being  in  its  nature  experi- 
mental, inductive,  and  in  effect,  proof;  the  evidence  of  Provi- 
dence and  in  Povidence,  as  embracing  the  preceding  and  adding 
thereto  strictly  moral  evidence  ;  and  the  evidence  of  Incarnation 
and  in  Incarnation,  beside  embracing  the  two  preceding — as  to 
certain  aspects  of  the  case — as  adding  a  still  higher  form  of 
strictly  spiritual  evidence.  Perhaps  that  is  not  different  from 
saying  that  the  prevailing  aspect  of  creation  is  physical  ;  that 
the  prevailing  aspect  of  Providence  is  moral ;  that  the  prevailing 
aspect  of  Redemption  is  spiritual  ;  that  throughout  the  whole 
of  them  there  is  the  force  of  a  Divine  Will,  and  over  the  whole 
the  light  of  a  Divine  Intelligence.  The  particular  forms  under 
which  the  whole,  or  any  part  of  this  evidence,  shall  be  brought 
forward  and  arrayed,  so  as  to  satisfy  our  intelligence,  belongs  to 
a  different  department  of  the  great  subject  of  the  Knowledge  of 
God.  The  analysis  just  made,  was  necessary  to  point  out  how  it 
is  that  every  manifestation  of  God  hitherto  considered,  whether 
we  call  it,  with  reference  to  our  own  nature,  natural  or  super- 
natural ;  is  equally  capable  of  being  construed  and  established  to 
human  intelligence  :  and  if  so,  then  this  is  also  true  of  every  pos- 
sible manifestation  of  God.  For  it  was  before  proved  that  there 
are  no  other  manifestations  of  God,  but  the  three  now  considered, 
and  the  three  remaining  to  be  considered  :  and  moreover  that 
the  whole  six  embraced  but  two  methods  and  the  union  of  the, 
two.  That  is  to  say,  a  natural  method  in  creation  and  Provi- 
dence ;  a  Supernatural  method  in  Incarnation  and  the  New 
Creation  ;  and  a  union  of  both  methods  in  Revelation  and  in  the 
Human  Soul.  But  having  fully  considered  both  the  fundamen- 
tal methods,  in  developing  the  first  three  manifestations  of  God, 
we  have  been  obliged  to  consider  all  the  difficulties  as  to  evi- 
dence, which  the  nature  of  the  case,  whether  natural  or  super- 
natural, would  allow  :  and  the  general  subject  has  reached  the 
point  where  such  an  analysis  was  proper.  The  particular  effect 
of  it  here  is,  to  connect  the  Incarnation  of  God,  in  the  most  pre- 
cise manner,  with  the  previous  works  of  creation  and  Providence  : 
and  having  reached  in  Christ  Jesus  the  culminating  point  of  the 
Knowledge  of  God,  to  connect  that  exalted  height  of  knowledge, 
and  that  God-man,  immediately  with  every  succeeding  manifes- 
tation of  God.     In  effect,  every  succeeding  manifestation  of  God, 


CHAP.  XXVI.]  THE    WORD     MADE    FLESH.  381 

.  as  will  be  seen,  an  especial  relevancy  to  God  manifest  in 
Human  Nature  ;  as  both  the  preceding  manifestations  lend  unto 
and  can  be  fully  explicated  only  in  connection  with  that  of  the 
Word  made  flesh. 

5.  Let  us  suppose  that  we  have  a  clear  idea  of  God — in  so  far 
as  that  he  is  an  Infinite  Being,  in  whom  are  all  perfections.  Let 
us  add,  one  by  one  these  following  ideas  :  that  he  is  the  creator 
of  the  universe  ;  that  he  is  the  Ruler  of  every  thing  he  has  crea- 
ted :  that  he  is  the  redeemer  of  fallen  men  :  that  he  is  the  sanc- 
tifier  of  the  sinners  he  saves  :  that  he  is  the  author  of  a  perma- 
nent Revelation,  which  is  a  perfect  rule  of  faith  and  duty  unto 
Salvation  :  that  the  soul  of  man  as  made  and  as  renewed  by 
God,  in  which  that  first  idea  of  God  dwells,  both  apprehends  all 
these  subsequent  ideas  of  God  and  is  a  living  monument  of  the 
truth  of  the  whole  of  them.  Is  it  not  clear  that  every  one  of 
these  additional  ideas,  vast  as  they  are,  may  be  considered  as 
lodged  implicitly  in  the  first  idea  of  God  as  possessing  all  per- 
fections ;  and  that  continually  increasing  knowledge  of  God 
flows  from  their  development,  one  after  another,  so  far  as  we 
have  yet  subjected  them  to  scrutiny  ?  Is  it  not  clear  that  all 
the  knowledge  of  God  thus  attainable  is  coherent,  every  part 
with  every  part  ;  and  the  whole  of  it  the  result  of  the  successive 
manifestations  which  God  has  made  of  himself  ?  It  seems  to 
me  that  nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  the  method  by  which 
we  have  reached — in  the  Word  made  flesh — the  summit  from 
which  the  whole  field  of  such  inquiries  may  be  surveyed.  That 
nothing  can  be  more  assured  than  the  position  thus  obtained, 
from  which  to  pass  onward  to  the  three  remaining  manifestations 
of  God  ;  all  of  which  have  a  direct  relevancy  to  all  of  those 
hitherto  considered,  and  especially,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  to 
God  the  Saviour  of  the  "World. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 


GOD  MANIFEST  IN  THE  NEW  CREATION:    GOD  TIIE  HOLY  GHOST. 

1.  The  Mode  of  the  Divino  Existence,  in  its  relation  to  the  Universe,  and  espe- 
cially to  the  New  Creation. — 2.  Relation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  Old  Creation. 
— II.  1.  The  nature  of  the  New  Creation.  The  work  of  the  Spirit  therein.  The 
State  of  Man  and  the  Universe. — 2.  Special  consideration  of  the  Spirit  and  his 
work  as  a  means  of  divine  knowledge. — 3.  Grand  epochs  in  the  progress  of  the 
New  Creation. — 4.  The  Sum  of  divine  knowledge  under  the  Patriarchal  Form  of 
the  Church  during  its  first  three  periods,  from  Adam  to  Noah — from  Noah  to 
Abraham — and  from  Abraham  to  Moses. — 5.  The  fourth  or  Theocratic  period — 
from  Moses  to  Christ.  Additional  knowledge  of  God  therein. — 6.  Advent  of 
Messiah.  The  effect  thereof  upon  his  kingdom. — ?.  In  this  fifth  period  it  is  the 
whole  work  of  Christ,  through  the  Spirit,  in  his  estate  of  Humiliation.  Appre- 
ciation of  consummate  knowledge. — 8.  The  sixth  period  of  the  New  Creation. 
Dispensation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  since  Pentecost. — 9.  The  explicit  relation  of  the 
■work  of  the  Spirit  to  Christ,  to  the  written  word,  to  the  work  of  Creation,  and 
therein  to  the  nature  of  man,  and  to  the  course  of  Providence. — III.  1.  The  won- 
derful working  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  the  Author  of  the  New  Creation. — 2.  With 
reference  to  Christ,  as  the  Head  thereof,  in  the  constitution  of  his  person,  as  Im- 
manuel. — 3.  With  reference  to  the  whole  Mediatorial  work  of  Christ. — 4.  With 
reference  to  the  mystical  Body  of  Christ,  and  the  members  thereof. 


I. — 1.  God  is  a  Spirit,  infinitely  perfect,  of  a  threefold  per- 
sonality. His  Essence  is  one  and  simple.  That  Essence  sus- 
tains three  modes  of  existence,  which  are  not  names,  but  Persons. 
These  Persons  are  one  in  Essence,  of  a  mutual  inboing,  and  equal 
in  power  and  glory.  They  are  distinct  in  their  Names,  in  their 
Order,  in  their  manner  of  working  and  in  their  personal  proper- 
ties. It  is  proper  to  the  Father  that  he  neither  proceeds,  nor  is 
begotten  of  any,  but  that  the  Son  is  begotten  of  him,  and  that 
the  Spirit  proceeds  from  him  and  the  Son  :  it  is  proper  to  the 
Son  that  he  is  begotten  of  the  Father,  and  that  the  Spirit  pro- 
ceeds from  him  and  the  Father  :  and  it  is  proper  to  the  Spirit 
that  he  is  not  begotten,  but  that  he  proceeds  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son.  From  which  properties  indeed  is  the  special  name 
of  each  Person.  —These  are  inscrutable  mysteries.     They  are  the 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  THE    NEW    CREATION.  383 

ultimate  facts  of  the  Divine  Existence.  They  cannot,  perhaps, 
be  stated  in  a  simpler  form  ;  and  this  form  of  statement  is  ac- 
quiesced in  by  the  whole  Orthodox  Church  of  God  as  containing 
the  result  of  the  innumerable  representations  of  his  Divine  Word 
on  the  subject.  Undeniably  this  is  the  manner  of  the  Divine 
Existence,  upon  the  reality  of  which  it  depends,  that  the  Scrip- 
tures should  be  either  coherent  or  intelligible  ;  that  the  Spirit- 
ual System  of  the  universe  revealed  in  them  should  be  possible  ; 
or  that  the  Plan  of  Salvation  they  contain  should  be  cither  true 
or  efficacious.  The  relation  of  God,  considered  absolutely,  and 
the  relation  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  con- 
sidered separately,  to  the  whole  work  of  Creation,  of  Providence, 
and  of  Grace — taken  all  together,  make  up  the  sum  of  the  known 
relations  of  God  to  the  universe  :  unless  we  should  see  fit  to  con- 
sider the  eternal  state  of  glory  as  a  work  of  God  distinct  from 
Creation,  Providence  and  Grace  :  in  which  case,  nothing  is 
changed,  but  our  mode  of  considering  the  subject,  by  making 
four  departments  of  it,  instead  of  three.  "What  is  now  to  be 
specially  considered  is,  so  much  of  the  Relations  of  God  to  the 
universe,  as  is  involved  in  the  manifestation  of  God  to  us  in  the 
New  Creation — as  a  means  to  us  of  the  true  knowledge  of  him- 
self. The  Manifestation,  that  is,  of  the  whole  work  of  God  con 
sidered  as  the  Restorer  of  his  universe  from  the  curse,  the  penalty, 
and  the  pollution  of  sin,  so  far  as  that  work  may  be  viewed  in 
the  results  of  it,  objectively  considered.  There  is  a  special  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit — the  third  Person  in  the  Trinity,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  New  Creation,  just  as  there  is  a  special  work  of  the 
First  and  the  Second  Persons  in  the  Trinity,  with  reference 
thereto  :  and  this  special  work  of  the  Holy#Spirit  with  reference 
to  the  New  Creation,  is  not  only  the  means  of  our  transcend  en'; 
knowledge  of  himself — but  also  of  the  whole  Godhead.  It  is  the 
second  of  the  two  purely  supernatural  methods  of  the  Divine 
Manifestation,  which  God  has  vouchsafed  unto  man.  The  first 
of  the  two  has  been  considered  in  the  previous  chapter — and  has 
its  foundation  in  the  union  of  the  divine  and  human  natures. 
The  second,  to  which  this  chapter  is  devoted,  is  a  totally  differ- 
ent Manifestation  of  God — which  has  its  foundation  in  the  per- 
fectly distinct,  personal,  spiritual  existence  of  God,  separate  from 
humanity — separate  from  the  universe. 

2.  It  may  be  needful  to  observe  that  the  restriction  of  this 


384  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

inquiry  to  the  New  Creation,  is  not  to  bo  considered  as  an  inti- 
mation that  the  Holy  Spirit  took  no  part  in  the  original,  or  old 
Creation  :  but  is  occasioned,  after  what  has  been  already  ad- 
vanced on  the  general  subject  of  creation,  by  that  necessity  of 
compressing  these  discussions,  which  limits  them  continually,  and 
by  the  incomparable  fulness  of  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
New  Creation.  All  divine  operations,  are  commonly  ascribed 
in  tlie  Scriptures  to  God  absolutely  ;  because  all  the  persons  of 
the  Trinity  concur  in  all  of  them — and  because  the  divine  es- 
sence is  one.  In  the  same  manner,  when  a  particular  account  is 
given  of  any  divine  operation,  it  is  commonly  ascribed  pre-emi- 
nently to  one  or  other  person  of  the  Godhead,  or  the  part  taken 
in  it  by  each  person  is  clearly  expressed.  And  prevailingly  the 
order  of  subsistence  of  the  three  persons  in  the  divine  Essence 
is  the  order  of  the  operation  of  the  three  in  all  the  great  works 
of  God.  The  beginning  of  divine  operations  is  usually  ascribed 
to  the  Father — of  whom,  and  to  whom  and  through,  whom  are 
all  things  :  the  sustaining,  establishing  and  upholding  all  things, 
is  ascribed  to  the  Son  :  and  the  perfecting  and  concluding  all 
things,  to  the  Holy  Spirit :  with  a  perpetual  concurrence,  how- 
ever, of  all,  in  all.1  The  original  creation  was  divided  into  two 
very  marked  classes — the  rational,  namely,  and  the  irrational 
portions  of  it ;  and  in  both  of  these  great  departments  of  the  old 
creation,  the  part  ascribed  to  the  Holy  Ghost — beside  his  co- 
operation in  the  whole,  was  the  completing  work  of  each.  The 
heavens  were  garnished  by  the  Spirit,  and  the  host  of  them  ren- 
dered glorious  and  beautiful,  wrought  and  adorned  to  show  forth 
God's  power  and  wisdom.2  And  the  earth  and  its  host  received 
their  quickening  and  prolific  power,  from  the  brooding  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  upon  the  face  of  that  formless  and  void  deep  which 
God  had  created — and  by  the  same  Spirit  the  face  of  the  earth 
is  continually  renewed.3  With  reference  to  the  creation  of  man, 
the  head  of  the  visible  creation,  the  statements  of  the  Scrip- 
tures are  distinct  and  remarkable.  The  Lord  God  formed  man 
of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  life  :  and  man  became  a  living  soul.4  Here  is  the 
matter  of  which  he  was  formed — dust  of  the  ground  :  the  addi- 
tion thereto,  namely,  the  breath  of  life  :  the  result  of  the  whole 

1  Rom.,  xi.  32  ;  Col.,  i.  17  ;  Hcb.,  i.  3.  s  Job,  xxvi.  13 ;  Ps.  xix.  1. 

8  Gen.,  L  2 ;  Ps.  civ.  30.  4  Gen.,  ii.  7. 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  THE    NEW    CREATION.  385 

manifested  in  the  union  of  the  two — man  became  a  living  soul. 
How  clearly  is  this  wonderful  origin  of  our  race — otherwise  ut- 
terly inscrutable — set  before  us  in  one  divine  sentence  !  But 
there  is  more.  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  own  image, 
after  our  likeness  :  so  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in 
the  image  of  God  created  He  him.1  The  creation  therefore 
of  the  human  soul,  the  Spiration  of  a  vital  principle,  an  immor- 
tal existence,  breathed  from  God  into  man,  is  the  immediate 
work,  as  its  very  manner  shows,  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  And  so 
that  original  intelligence  in  man  by  which  he  might  discern  the 
will  of  God,  that  ability  and  inclination  unto  his  service,  that 
love  of  him  and  conformity  unto  him  :  in  other  words,  that 
knowledge,  righteousness,  and  holiness  wherein  so  large  a  part 
of  man's  conformity  to  the  image  of  God  consisted,  were  pro- 
ducts of  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  is  no  marvel, 
therefore,  that  in  the  renovation  of  our  fallen  nature,  the  resto- 
ration of  that  lost  image  of  God,  which  was  bestowed  on  us  at 
first  by  the  Spirit,  should  be  his  immediate  operation,  wherein 
by  a  New  Creation  he  restores  his  own  work  to  more  than  its 
original  glory.3 

II. — 1.  The  fall  of  man  by  transgression  against  God,  pro- 
duced upon  the  whole  visible  universe  of  which  he  was  the  bead, 
those  terrible  effects  which  appertained  to  transgression  by  the 
primitive  constitution  of  man,  and  by  the  penalty  of  the  Cove- 
nant of  Works  ;  effects  which  were  to  a  certain  degree  intimated 
in  the  sentence  pronounced  by  the  Almighty  at  the  time  ;4  which 
all  succeeding  ages  have  developed  ;  and  which  will  not  cease  to 
be  felt  throughout  eternity.  To  retrieve  these  results  in  such  a 
manner  as  became  the  glory  of  God,  and  to  make  the  whole  issue 
of  them  all,  in  time  and  in  eternity,  supremely  illustrate  that 
glory  ;  was  the  immediate  object  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  and 
therefore  of  the  Incarnation  of  Christ,  and  of  the  whole  work  of 
the  divine  Spirit  in  the  New  Creation.  That  New  Creation  is, 
indeed,  the  sum  of  the  operations  of  the  Spirit,  in  the  practical 
application  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  with  all  its  blessings  and 
benefits  to  the  universe,  as  it  and  all  things  lay  under  the  pen- 
alty of  Sin,  the  curse  of  the  moral  law,  and  the  Special  Sentence 
of  God  pronounced  upon  the  breach  of  the  Covenant  of  Works. 
The  curse  of  God  is  upon  the  Tempter,  and  upon  the  man,  and 

>  Gen.,  L  2G,  27.         a  Job,  sxxiii.  4.         3  John,  iii.  1-21.         *  Gen.,  iii.  14-19. 

25 


38G  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV, 

upon  the  woman,  and  upon  the  earth,  and  upon  all  things  per- 
taining to  them  all :  all  underlies  that  curse,  and  all  that  is  im- 
plied in  it,  and  awaits  its  terrible  execution.  As  for  man  he  has 
fallen  from  his  original  righteousness  :  he  has  lost  communion 
with  God  :  he  has  become  dead  in  Sin  :  he  is  wholly  defiled  in 
all  the  faculties  and  parts  of  his  Soul  and  of  his  body.1  And 
from  this  depraved  nature  proceed  all  actual  transgressions  :  and 
the  pollution  and  the  transgressions  springing  from  it,  altogether 
subject  us  to  the  wrath  of  God,  and  to  every  misery,  spiritual, 
temporal,  and  eternal.  And  so  fatal  is  the  condition,  and  so 
deadly  is  that  malady  of  Sin  which  alone  of  all  maladies  has  no 
result,  of  itself,  but  in  death,  that  not  a  single  creature  of  the  race 
did,  of  himself,  ever  escape,  or  ever  could.  For  always  and  with- 
out exception,  lust,  when  it  hath  conceived,  bringeth  forth  sin, 
and  always  and  without  exception,  sin,  when  it  is  finished,  bring- 
eth forth  death.2 

2.  It  has  been  largely  shown  that  this  fearful  condition  of 
man  and  of  the  universe,  was  retrieved  by  the  interposition  of 
God  :  that  the  special  form  of  that  interposition  was  through 
the  Incarnatian  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  second  Person  of  the 
Trinity  :  and  that  the  efficacy  of  that  interposition  was  secured 
by  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  third  Person  of  the  Trinity. 
At  present,  it  is  the  aspect  of  that  whole  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit,  as  the  manifestation  of  God  in  the  New  Creation,  and  so 
the  means  unho  us  of  the  true  knowledge  of  him  in  all  spiritual 
things,  and  not  the  general  discussion  of  the  great  doctrine  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  is  directly  before  us.  Considered  in  whatever 
light,  this  Dispensation  of  the  Spirit  covers  every  part  of  the 
New  Creation,  every  outworking  of  the  eternal  Covenant  of  Grace. 
It  commences,  therefore,  for  its  manifestation,  with  the  very  ut- 
tering of  the  earliest  promise  to  our  race,  which  was  embraced  in 
the  threat  which  closed  the  divine  sentence  against  their  Tempter 
— I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman,  and  between 
thy  seed  and  her  seed  :  it  shall  bruise  thy  head  and  thou  shalt 
bruise  his  heel.3  From  that  moment  God  appears  to  sinful  man 
not  merely  as  his  offended  Creator,  but  also  as  his  merciful  Sav- 
iour. Thenceforward  Messiah  has  a  revealed  relation  to  man, 
the  New  Creation  has  a  positive  sense  to  the  human  race,  and 

1  Gen.,  iii.  1-9;  Ron.,  v.  passim;  Gen.,  vi.  5-7;  Rom.,  iii.  10-19. 
3  James,  L  15.  a  Gen.,  iii.  15. 


criAP.  xxvii.]         the   new   creation.  387 

the  Holy  Spirit  has  a  sublime  mission  of  grace  in  this  ruined 
world.  We  need  not  be  ignorant  of  what  those  innumerable  state- 
ments intend,  whereh)  we  are  divinely  informed  that  God  gives 
his  Spirit  unto  us — that  he  sends  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  men — 
that  he  ministers  of  the  Spirit  unto  them — that  he  pours  him 
out  upon  them  ;  nor  of  the  meaning  of  the  corresponding  state- 
ments concerning  the  Spirit,  that  he  proceeds  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son — that  he  comes  to  men — that  he  falls  and  that  he 
rests  upon  them — and  that  he  departs  from  them.  Nor  need  we 
marvel  at  those  manifold  operations  through  which  God  attested 
by  sigris,  and  wonders,  and  mighty  works,  and  still  more  mighty 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  constant  progress  through  all  ages, 
of  his  glorious  work.  We  need  not  err  :  we  need  not  marvel. 
The  key  to  all  these  things  has  been  put  into  our  hands  by  God 
himself.  The  motive,  the  end,  the  effect,  the  significance,  the 
cause,  the  power  of  all  is  clearly  set  before  us  ;  as  soon  as  we  will 
accept  in  its  simple  verity,  and  its  divine  fulness,  that  first  re- 
corded promise  and  sentence  of  God  all  in  one  ;  at  the  moment 
that  he  opened  under  one  covenant,  that  way  of  Life,  which  had 
just  been  closed  forever  under  the  other.  And  this  transcendent 
knowledge,  in  the  first  glorious  inception  of  it,  is  made  ours 
through  the  manifestation  of  God  in  the  New  Creation.  And 
all  the  steadfast  development  of  this  new  light  and  this  new  life, 
whether  in  its  progress  through  the  centuries,  or  in  its  growth  in  our 
own  souls,  depends  upon  the  same  sublime  manifestation  of  God. 
3.  I  have  pointed  out  in  a  previous  chapter,  the  manner  in 
which  it  seemed  to  me  most  convenient  to  contemplate  the  great 
epochs  and  subdivisions  of  the  progress  of  the  Messianic  king- 
dom, when  the  particular  object  was  to  obtain  a  distinct  and 
comprehensive  view  of  the  relations  of  Providence  to  that  king- 
dom in  its  connection  with  all  the  world  Powers.  A  different 
aspect  of  the  Messianic  kingdom  is  presented  to  us,  when  we 
seek  to  comprehend  the  perpetual  deveLypment  of  the  saving 
knowledge  of  God  in  it,  and  by  means  of  it :  since  in  this  light 
it  is  the  connection  of  the  Saviour  and  the  Sanctifier  of  that 
kingdom  with  each  other,  as  manifested  in  its  own  great  progress  ; 
and  not  the  connection  of  the  kingdom  itself  with  the  course  of 
Providence,  which  we  are  especially  to  consider.  The  New  Cre- 
ation considered  as  a  perpetual  and  continually  increasing  man- 
ifestation of  God,  involves  in  its  widest  conception,  every  element 


388  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

of  our  knowledge  of  God — and  in  its  specific  conception  icsts 
upon  the  whole  work  of  the  Divine  Spirit  considered  with  partic- 
ular reference  to  the  Covenant  of  Grace.  Though  a  new  and 
spiritual,  there  is  yet  a  real  creation  :  though  there  may  be  a 
special  aspect  of  Providence,  yet  it  is  not  only  real  but  peculiarly 
glorious  :  and  the  work  of  Christ — the  Dispensation  of  the  Spirit 
— and  the  Revealed  Will  of  God,  have  primary  reference  to  the 
New  Creation — while  the  soul  of  man  is  as  really  the  subject  of 
this  as  of  its  original  creation.  The  manifestation  of  God  in 
Christ  has  been  considered  ;  and  his  manifestation  in  Revelation 
and  in  the  Human  Soul  will  be  hereafter  considered  separately 
in  their  order.  At  present  it  is  the  manifestation  of  God,  the 
Spirit,  in  the  specific  relation  of  that  Divine  Agent  to  the  whole 
work  of  the  Restitution  of  the  universe  which  lies  before  us.  In 
this  vast  field  of  knowledge,  there  are  operations  of  the  Spirit 
common  to  all  the  periods  into  which  his  Dispensation  can  be 
divided  :  while  there  are  also  grand  epochs  which  mark  his  Dis- 
pensation— as  from  period  to  period,  his  manifestations  become 
more  full  in  themselves,  or  more  subject  to  human  scrutiny. 
Following  these,  we  may  call  the  period  from  Adam  to  Noah 
the  first  state  of  the  New  Creation  :  that  from  Noah  to  Abra- 
ham the  second  state  :  that  from  Abraham  to  Moses  the  third 
state  :  that  from  Moses  to  Christ  the  fourth  state  :  the  personal 
ministry  of  Christ  the  fifth  state  :  and  the  period  from  the  As- 
cension of  Christ  to  his  Second  Advent  the  sixth  state.  So  far 
as  this  inquiry  is  concerned,  all  that  will  follow  the  Second  Ad- 
vent of  Christ  may  be  considered  one  single  State  of  the  New 
Creation  :  or  we  may  make  the  Millennial  Reign  one  state,  and 
the  eternal  Glory  another  state  :  or  we  may  recoil  in  our  weak- 
ness and  ignorance,  from  any  attempt  to  connect  the  Divine 
Spirit  in  any  particular  manner  with  the  glorified  state  of  the 
New  Creation  under  the  immediate  dominion  of  the  glorified  Sa- 
viour, whether  on  earth  or  in  heaven.  Here,  as  everywhere,  the 
inscrutability  of  these  awful  themes  presses  us  the  most  as  we 
get  very  near  to  their  consummate  result  :  and  divine  Revelation 
refuses  to  open  to  us  the  culminating  result  of  any  mystery  of 
God,  with  the  same  distinctness  that  it  opens  to  us,  all  that  is 
elemental  in  them  all.  We  cannot  too  clearly  understand,  that 
nothing  is  revealed  merely  to  our  curiosity. 

4.  We  will  not  pause  here  to  inquire  further  into  the  actual 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  THE    SEW    CREATION.  3S0 

condition  of  mail  as  created,  and  his  actual  condition  as  fallen,  and 
the  precise  difference  between  the  two  conditions  :  all  of  which  has 
been  now  exhibited  in  a  general  manner,  and  the  special  discus- 
sion  of  which  belongs  toother  parts  of  Theology.  It  is  clear  that 
the  very  first  declaration  of  the  Way  of  Life  for  fallen  man,  in- 
volved the  revelation  by  God,  of  truths  wholly  new  and  unspeakably 
grand  and  vital  to  man.  The  first  Parents  of  our  race  learned  that 
there  was  salvation  for  lost  men ;  that  this  salvation  had  its 
origin  merely  in  Divine  Grace  ;  that  it  would  be  exhibited 
through  the  future  Incarnation  of  a  Redeemer  ;  that  the  Redeemer 
would  be  at  once  a  Suffering  and  a  Triumphant  Saviour  ;  that 
his  finished  righteousness  was  to  be  embraced  only  through  faith. 
If  we  add  to  these  immense  acquisitions  in  knowledge  the  Moral 
Law  as  the  rule  of  obedience,  which  abides  to  this  day,  and  the 
Institution  of  Sacrifice,  as  the  mode  of  worship,  which  was  con- 
summated in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  ;  we  have,  perhaps,  the  sum 
of  Adamic  Theology — the  sum  of  the  attainment  of  the  Church 
of  God  in  the  knowledge  of  himself,  during  its  first  period  ex- 
tending from  Adam  to  Noah.  The  first  explicit  mention  of  a 
direct  covenant  between  God  and  man  occurs  in  relation  to  the 
covenant  entered  into  with  Noah  by  the  Almighty,  after  the 
drowning  of  the  world  in  the  flood.1  And  therein  is  the  rich 
blessing  of  God,  and  immense  additions  made,  through  the 
divine  Spirit,  to  the  knowledge  of  the  will  of  God  already  pos- 
d  by  man.  The  distinct  Revelation  of  the  universal  stead- 
fastness of  nature  ;  of  the  purpose  of  God  concerning  the  future 
fate  of  the  world  and  the  human  race  ;  of  the  dominion  of  man, 
and  of  his  liberty  in  the  use  of  all  created  things  ;  and  of  the 
providential  care  of  God  over  the  human  race  :  to  thesj  are 
added  commands  now  first  given  to  man,  upon  which  rest  the 
foundations  of  organized  governments  and  all  civil  authority 
amongst  men  :  and  then  God  set  his  bow  in  the  cloud,  and 
made  it  a  token  of  the  covenant  between  him  and  the  earth.2 
Thus  augmented,  the  sum  of  Revealed  Theology  may  be  con- 
sidered as  occupying  this  posture  during  the  second  period  of  the 
church,  extending  to  the  call  of  Abraham.  The  Jews,  who  dis- 
tinguished themselves  amongst  the  nations  by  calling  ail  man- 
kind  the  Children  of  Noah,  and  adding  for  themselves  the  further 
appellation  of  thn  Seed  of  Abraham,  received  from  the  earliest 
1  Gen.,  ix.  9.  a  Gen.,  viiL  15-22,  ix.  1-17. 


300  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK   IV. 

ages,  and  from  sources  now  unknown,  seven  precepts  called 
Noacic,  binding,  as  they  held,  on  all  mankind,  and  of  which 
traces  are  undoubtedly  to  be  found  amongst  all  peoples.  They 
may  be  summarily  stated  thus  :  the  first  precept  was  against 
Idolatry,  the  second  against  Profaneness,  the  third  against  Homi- 
cide, the  fourth  against  Uncleanness,  the  fifth  against  Kapine, 
the  sixth  against  Sedition,  the  seventh  against  Cruelty.  Pass- 
ing to  the  third  period,  which  extended  from  Abraham  to  Moses, 
it  is  to  be  noted,  that  as  the  Antediluvian  period  was  preceded  by 
the  fall  of  the  whole  race,  so  the  first  two  postdiluvian  periods 
were  preceded  each  by  a  great  and  general  apostasy  of  the  race. 
Noah  and  his  household  alone  of  all  mankind  had  not  forsaken 
God  ;  and  Abraham  himself  was  not  wholly  free  from  that  uni- 
versal idolatry,  out  of  the  midst  of  which  God  chose  him  from  a 
race  which  had  thus  for  the  third  time  rejected  him.  The  super- 
natural call  of  the  Friend  of  God  was  perfectly  distinct,  and  the 
great  object  of  it  precisely  stated  by  God.  Get  thee  out  of  thy 
country,  and  from  thy  kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house  :  in 
thee  shall  all  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed.1  The  augmenta- 
tion of  the  kuowledge  of  God  in  this  period  of  the  New  Creation 
was  various  and  immense.  The  chief  things  may  be  sum- 
marily stated,  thus  :  God  gave  to  Abraham  a  clearer  and  fuller 
explanation  of  his  first  promise  of  a  Saviour  :  the  promise  of  the 
Seed  in  whom  all  the  families  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed  was 
reduced  into  a  distinct  covenant  with  Abraham,  and  was  reiter- 
ated to  him  at  least  seven  times  ;  a  more  complete  explanation 
of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  was  made  to  him  ;2  the  Sacrament  of 
Circumcision  was  established,  both  as  a  testimony  of  God's  per- 
sonal covenant  with  Abraham,  and  as  a  sign  and  seal  of  the  Cov- 
enant of  Grace,  and  therein  the  first  outward  and  permanent 
mark  of  the  visible  church,  and  of  its  complete  and  Sacramental 
separation  from  the  world.3  The  precise  restriction  of  the  per- 
sonal promises  to  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  and  of  the  Spir- 
itual promises  to  mankind  through  the  Seed  of  Abraham,  that  is 
Christ  ;4  the  bestowment  of  all  these  promises,  and  all  the  cor- 
responding privileges,  upon  the  infant  seed  of  those  to  whom 
the  respective  promises  appertained  ;5  and,  as  crowning  all,  the 
personal  grace  bestowed  on  Abraham  individually,  whereby  he 

1  Gen.,  xii.  1-3;  Heb.,  xi.  S-10.  ,J  Gen.,  xvii.  1-8.  a  Gen.,  xvii.  9-27. 

4  Acta.  iii.  25  ;  Gal.,  iii.  8-16.  "  Gen.,  xvii.  7  ;  Eom.,  ix.  8. 


C  BAP.  XXVII.]  TIIE    NEW    CREATION.  391 

became  the  Father  of  the  Faithful,  the  Friend  of  Go  J,  and  the 
perpetual  representative  hoth  of  those  naturally  and  of  those 
graciously  inheriting  the  amazing  inheritance  covenanted  in  his 
seed.  The  sum  of  divine  knowledge  indicated  in  the  foregoing 
sketches  of  the  first  three  states  of  God's  Church  in  the  world,  is 
in  that  respect  the  measure  of  God's  manifestation  in  the  New 
Creation,  at  the  Exodus  from  Egypt,  and  the  foundation  of  the 
Theocracy  by  Moses. 

5.  It  required  twenty-live  centuries  to  develop  the  Messianic 
Kingdom  to  the  point  now  reached.  The  Book  of  Genesis  con- 
tains its  inspired  record  through  that  long  course  of  ages.  A  few 
of  its  earlier  chapters  are  devoted  to  the  Period  from  Adam 
to  Noah  ;  a  few  succeeding  chapters  to  the  period  from  Noah  to 
Abraham  ;  and  the  whole  remainder  of  it  to  the  period  from 
Abraham  to  Moses.  "With  Moses  commences  that  great  change 
in  the  condition  of  the  New  Creation,  involved  in  the  bestow- 
ment  on  it  by  God  of  a  permanent,  written  Revelation.  In  the 
nature  of  the  case,  every  thing  in  the  Kingdom  of  Messiah 
grounds  itself  upon  a  Revelation  from  God  ;  even  such  things 
that  enter  into  it,  as  are  the  subjects  of  natural  knowledge,  en- 
tering into  it  only  in  that  manner,  and  to  that  extent  which  a 
divine  Revelation  shall  disclose.  It  is  the  Spirit  of  God  which 
presides  over  all;  it  is  only  the  manner  of  perpetuating  the  Rev- 
elations he  makes  which  is  changed,  when  these  Revelations  are 
reduced  to  a  permanent  written  form.  The  Revelations  made 
by  God  during  twenty-five  centuries  before  the  writing  of  the 
Book  of  Genesis,  and  which  are  recorded  therein  ;  stand  pre- 
cisely on  the  same  footing  as  the  Revelations  made  during  six- 
teen succeeding  centuries  from  Moses  to  the  Apostle  John.  Their 
being  recorded  immediately,  or  after  some  years,  or  after  many 
centuries,  is  perfectly  immaterial  as  to  their  intimate  nature  ; 
since  a  watch  in  the  night,  yesterday  when  it  is  past,  and  a  thou- 
sand ages,  are  alike  to  God.  It  was  to  the  same  church  of  God, 
therefore,  and  by  the  same  method  of  a  divine  Revelation  given 
by  the  same  Spirit  of  God,  that  Moses  and  all  the  prophets  min- 
istered during  the  fourth  period  of  the  New  Creation,  extending 
even  to  Christ,  and  embracing  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures.  By  the  universal  consent  of  antiquity,  sacred  and 
profane,  Moses  was  the  first  public  Lawgiver  of  the  human  race, 
and  his  writings  are,  by  many  centuries,  the  earliest  that  are 


392  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

known  to  have  existed  amongst  men.  It  is  at  the  end  of  nearly 
thirty-five  centuries  from  his  day,  that  in  estimating  the  career, 
the  Laws  and  Institutions  of  this  wonderful  man,  we  are  obliged 
to  declare  that  in  the  whole  compass  of  history,  no  mere  man  is 
comparable  to  him.  The  Ten  Commandments,  which  condense 
into  a  few  propositions  the  whole  sum  of  the  Moral  Law,  and 
which  he  laid  as  the  basis  of  his  Theocratical  commonwealth,  he 
plainly  tells  us  were  written  by  the  finger  of  God  on  tables  of 
stone.1  And  they  who  are  the  most  competent  to  judge,  and 
who  the  most  carefully  compare  this  earliest  written  monument 
of  our  race,  with  all  that  our  race  has  produced  ;  are  the  readi- 
est to  admit  that  any  account  of  their  origin,  substantially  dif- 
ferent from  the  one  given,  would  have  been  incredible.  Preg- 
nant with  this  immutable  and  infallible  rule  of  duty,  the  Books 
of  Moses,  and  all  the  divine  writings  contained  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, reiterating  all  the  Knowledge  of  God  imparted  to  men 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  during  the  three  preceding  states  of  the 
church — advance  that  Knowledge  very  greatly  and  very  various- 
ly, but  in  a  way  capable  of  systematic  appreciation  from  the 
stand  point  occupied  in  this  survey.  It  is  here  we  are  first 
taught  with  such  rjerfect  clearness,  the  fundamental  principle  of 
the  whole  Jewish  Dispensation — that  divine  Revelation  is  the 
only  adequate  foundation,  the  sole  unerring  rule  of  all  true  Faith, 
and  of  all  acceptable  Worship.  The  second  great  and  compre- 
hensive principle  which  pervades  that  dispensation  is,  that  the 
righteousness  which  is  acceptable  to  God,  through  which  pardon 
for  sin,  and  eternal  Salvation  are  attainable  by  fallen  men  ;  is 
only  through  the  promised  Seed,  who  is  the  Messiah — and  that 
merely  of  divine  Grace.  The  third  grand  principle  is,  that  all 
the  Institutions  of  that  Theocratic  Commonwealth,  however  glo- 
rious they  might  be  and  sufficient  for  the  time,  were  not  perma- 
nent, and  of  themselves  an  end  ;  but  that  every  thing  was  lim- 
ited, peculiar,  transient,  ceremonial,  and  typical ;  pointing  to 
more  glorious  institutions,  signifying  better  things  than  them- 
8clves,  and  destined  to  terminate  in  a  more  glorious  form  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Messiah,  and  a  more  exalted  knowledge  of  the  true 
God.  Such  was  the  state  of  divine  Knowledge,  to  which  the 
Manifestation  of  God  in  the  New  Creation,  during  its  Fourth, 
or  Mosaic  state,  had  conducted  men  ;  the  glory  of  divine  Reve- 

1  Ex.,  sxxi.  18. 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  THE    NEW    CREATION.  393 

lation,  the  glory  of  Sovereign  Grace,  the  glory  of  the  promised 
Saviour. 

6.  At  length  the  Son  of  God  appeared.  The  Seed  promised 
four  thousand  years  before,  was  manifested  in  the  flesh.  That 
great  primeval  promise,  in  which  was  involved  implicitly  the 
whole  plan  of  salvation,  the  whole  economy  of  all  the  manifesta- 
tions of  Cod  in  the  New  Creation — developed  through  so  many 
centuries  and  such  various  and  cumulative  Dispensations  ;  now 
came  to  be  simply  and  completely  fulfilled,  in  its  most  obvious 
sense,  and  in  its  most  fundamental  conception,  of  God  manifest 
in  Human  Nature.  The  period  of  this  appearing  of  the  Son  of 
God  is  marked  by  two  notable  designations.  It  is  called  TJie 
fulness  of  the  Time — and  it  is  called  These  Last  Days.  When 
the  fulness  of  the  time  was  come,  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  God 
sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law,  to 
redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law.1  And  in  another  place, 
he  says,  God  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  spake 
in  times  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these  last 
days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son,  whom  he  hath  appointed  heir 
of  all  things.2  The  fulness  of  the  time,  according  to  the  eternal 
purpose  of  God  ;  and  according  also  to  innumerable  utterances 
by  him  of  that  purpose,  through  the  long  past  ages.  The  ful- 
ness of  the  time  also,  according  to  the  working  of  all  things,  and 
the  in-working  of  each  upon  all,  whereby  all  created  things  had 
reached  that  express  juncture  and  result,  when  the  New  Creation 
could  the  most  signally  manifest  itself,  through  the  appearing  of 
its  own  Lord.  This  fulness  of  the  time  on  the  one  side,  was 
coincident  on  the  other  with  these  Last  Times  of  the  Theocratic 
form  of  the  Messianic  kingdom,  in  which  he  was  to  be  mani- 
fested  :  he  who  had  been  fore-ordained  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  as  at  once  the  glory  of  his  people  Israel,  the  light  of 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  Desire  of  all  Nations.3  Every  promise  of 
God  concerning  the  New  Creation,  in  every  stage  of  its  progress, 
contemplated  Him  that  was  to  come  ;  and  it  lay  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  Mosaic  Institutions — as  I  have  pointed  out  in  the 
preceding  paragraph — that  these  last  times  were  reached  when 
everlasting  righteousness  should  be  fully  brought  in.  The  offer- 
ing up  of  Christ  upon  the  cross,  consummated  the  very  idea  of 
Sacrifice,  which  was  the  great  outward  form  of  worship  from 
1  GaL,  iv.  4,  5.  «  Hcb.,  i.  1,  2.  3  1  Pet.,  L  20 ;  Luke,  ii.  32  ;  Hag.,  ii.  7. 


394  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

Adam  to  Christ ;  and  the  whole  Sacrificial  System  of  Moses, 
and  with  it,  every  thing  peculiar  to  that  great  dispensation,  fell 
of  itself.  The  blood  of  all  atoning  sacrifices  was  sprinkled  against 
the  veil  of  the  Temple,  as  the  door  leading  to  the  dwelling-place 
of  Jehovah  ;  and  on  the  great  day  of  yearly  Atonement  the 
blood  was  carried  through  it  into  the  Holy  of  Holies,  by  the  High 
Priest.  No  marvel  then,  that  when  the  crucified  Saviour — cry- 
ing with  a  loud  voice,  It  is  finished,  bowed  his  head  and  gave 
up  the  Ghost ;  the  veil  of  the  Temple  was  miraculously  rent  in 
twain,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom.1  It  could  not  have  been  re- 
cognized as  standing  another  hour — without  confounding  the 
whole  proportion  of  Faith,  and  casting  doubt  upon  the  certitude 
with  which  we  are  able  to  follow  its  great  course,  as  it  is  per- 
petually led  onward  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  widening  and  deepening 
at  every  step. 

7.  In  this  fifth  state  of  the  New  Creation,  therefore,  it  is  the 
whole  work  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  during  his  estate  of 
Humiliation,  which  becomes,  through  the  Spirit  of  God,  a  means 
unto  us  of  the  knowledge  of  God.  What  has  been  advanced  in 
the  chapter  immediately  preceding  this,  when  treating  expressly 
of  the  Word  made  Flesh,  need  not  be  reiterated  here  ;  nor  need 
we  anticipate  here,  what  must  be  taught  in  the  next  succeeding 
chapter  when  the  Manifestation  of  God  by  means  of  a  Written 
Eevelation,  will  be  separately  considered.  The  testimony  of 
John  the  Baptist  concerning  Christ,  as  that  testimony  is  com- 
pressed, confirmed  and  recorded  by  the  Apostle  John  was,  that 
being  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  and  dwelling  in  his 
bosom,  he  hath  declared  God  unto  us.2  And  the  Apostle  Paul 
intent  upon  the  same  course  of  thought,  calls  Christ  Jesus,  the 
Apostle  and  High  Priest  of  our  profession — exhorts  us  to  con- 
template hitn  as  such — and  pronounces  our  calling  heavenly,  and 
those  who  partake  of  it  holy.3  Nothing  can  be  imagined  more 
thorough  and  comprehensive,  than  these  statements.  Being  the 
Son  of  God,  and  so  of  his  essence,  he  had  the  same  infinite  cog- 
nition and  comprehension  of  all  truth,  as  the  Father.  As  he 
alone  has  seen  God  and  had  a  perfect  intuition  of  him,  he  alone 
is  perfectly  qualified  to  explicate  all  things  concerning  him.  As 
he  dwells  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  is  cognizant  of  the 
whole  counsel  of  God  ;  and  is  possessed  of  the  Holy  Spirit  with- 

1  John,  xix.  30  j  Mat.,  xxvii.  30-52.  2  John,  i.  18.  3  Heb.,  iii.  1. 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  THE     NEW    CREATION.  395 

out  measure;1  and  of  all  the  treasures  both  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge.-'  As  both  the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of  our  pro- 
fession, he  has  perfectly  explained  all  that  can  concern  God's 
glory  and  worship  on  one  side,  and  our  faith  and  obedience  on 
the  other,  as  all  are  connected  with  our  heavenly  calling;  which 
all  who  preceded  him  could  but  partially  comprehend  and  dis- 
close, each  in  his  order  and  degree.  The  counsel,  and  will,  and 
revelation  of  God,  are  therefore  complete  unto  Salvation,  in 
Christ  Jesus  :  and  after  we  have  received  his  teachings,  whether 
directly  from  himself  or  whether  by  means  of  those  chosen  there- 
unto by  him,  and  inspired  by  his  Spirit  sent  from  heaven  upon 
them,  there  remains  no  more  truth  unto  salvation  for  men  to 
know,  beyond  that  thus  embraced  and  consummated.  Con- 
sidered in  this  light,  these' great  principles  and  truths  peculiarly 
related  to  the  state  of  the  New  Creation  in  which  God  is  thus 
manifested,  may  be  summarily  stated  in  the  following  manner. 
First  :  the  absolute  fulness,  completeness,  and  certainty  of  the 
salvation  of  penitent  and  believing  sinners,  by  Jesus  Christ :  and 
the  total  impossibility  of  salvation  for  sinners  in  any  other  way, 
or  upon  any  other  terms.  Secondly  :  the  total  inability  of  man 
in  his  present  fallen  state,  by  any  sufficiency  of  his  own  or  by 
any  means  which  any  creature  can  offer,  to  perceive,  or  to  com- 
prehend, or  to  embrace  unto  salvation — the  truth,  the  way,  and 
the  life  made  known  to  man  by  God.  Thirdly  :  the  indispensa- 
ble necessity  of  the  New  Creation  of  the  soul  of  man,  unto  salva- 
tion :  the  being  born  again  of  the  Spirit,  that  we  may  become  the 
sons  of  God,  be  partakers  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  inherit 
eternal  life.  Fourthly  :  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  life  of  holi- 
ness following  after  our  new  birth,  and  persisted  in  to  the  end  : 
whereunto  the  Kevealed  Truth  of  God  is  the  only  efficacious  in- 
strument, the  divine  Spirit  the  only  sufficient  agent,  and  the 
divinely  instituted  means  of  Grace,  the  only  sure  method. 
Fifthly  :  the  total  separation  of  the  Messianic  kingdom  in  its 
new  state,  from  this  world,  and  the  kingdoms  thereof :  the  su- 
preme headship  of  the  glorified  Redeemer  in  it  and  over  it :  the 
exclusive  authority  of  his  Revealed  Will  as  the  rule  of  its  life, 
faith,  worship,  and  form  :  and  the  perpetual  presence,  power, 
and  authority  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  therein,  in  the  name  and  place 
of  Christ.     Sixthly  :  the  assured  certainty  of  the  second  coming 

1  John,  iii.  34.  ■  CoL,  ii.  2. 


396  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

of  the  glorified  Kedcemer,  and  of  the  absolute  consummation  of 
all  his  gracious  promises,  and  glorious  counsels,  in  the  complete 
triumph  of  the  Messianic  kingdom  :  the  restitution  of  all  things, 
and  the  recapitulation  of  all  things  in  Jesus  Christ  :  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  the  general  Judgment,  and  the  eternal  re- 
tributions to  the  just  and  to  the  unjust.  Such  from  the  point 
of  view  here  occupied,  is  an  imperfect  outline  of  the  divine 
knowledge  predominant  in  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures,  and  immediately  dependent  upon  the  relation  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  the  Word  made  Flesh,  and  through  him  to  every 
part  of  the  New  Creation.  Simple  as  the  outline  is,  who  can 
avoid  a  sense  of  the  transcendent  nature  of  the  knowledge  thus 
brought  within  our  reach  by  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 

8.  The  Sixth  state  of  the  New  Creation,  is  that  which  is  now 
passing  over  us,  and  which  being  fully  initiated  by  the  outpour- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  will  continue 
until  the  Second  appearing  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  his  glory.  The 
great  promise  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  was  the  coming 
of  Christ  in  the  flesh  :  and  the  second  was  the  pre-eminent  effu- 
sion  of  the  Spirit  under  the  Gospel  church  state.1  This  is  the 
distinguishing  glory  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom  under  the  exist- 
ing form  of  it ;  and  is  the  crowning  blessing  to  that  kingdom  in 
its  whole  militant  state.  The  doctrine  of  the  divine  unity,  has 
been  shared  with  the  church  of  God,  by  the  more  enlightened 
part  of  the  human  race  :  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  Trinity  was 
known  to  the  church  itself  from  its  foundation  on  earth  ;  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  was  its  original  corner-stone.  But 
the  Dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  manner  witnessed 
in  the  Gospel  church,  never  occurred  amongst  men  until  Christ 
was  glorified  :2  and  the  very  existence  of  it  was  not  suspected 
even  by  those  who  believed  the  testimony  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  were  partakers  of  his  Baptism.3  The  promise  of  Christ  also, 
throughout  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  differed  in  one  most 
striking  particular  from  the  innumerable  promises  of  the  Holy 
Ghost :  and  yet  all  the  promises  of  both  agree  in  another  particular 
not  less  striking.  Christ  was  to  come  in  such  a  manner  as  to  put 
an  end  to  the  church  state,  to  Avhich  his  coming  appertained  ;  but 
the  Holy  Ghost  was  to  found  and  perpetuate  a  new  church  state  : 
while  in  Christ's  work  of  demolition  the  Holy  Ghost  was  to  be 
1  Isa.,  xxxv,  7  ;  Joel,  ii.  28  ;  Ezek.,  xi.  19.  3  John,  vi.  39.  •  Acts,  xix.  1-3. 


CIl  AC.  X.XVII.]  THE    NEW    CREATION.  397 

all  and  in  all  to  him,  and  in  the  Spirit's  work  of  reconstruction 
Christ  was  to  be  BO  truly  the  author  of  it  all,  that  the  Spirit  was 
really  to  be  his  Vicar  therein.  The  great  work  whereby  God 
would  glorify  himself,  was  that  of  the  New  Creation,  which  is 
through  Jesus  Christ,  the  Head  thereof,  for  the  recovery  and 
restoration  of  all  things  unto  himself.'  In  the  whole  execution 
of  this  work,  God  has  made  the  most  illustrious  displays  of  him- 
self, and  the  most  glorious  discoveries  of  himself  to  his  universe.5 
And  in  no  part  more  illustriously  than  in  the  mission  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  to  found  the  Gospel  state 
of  the  church  ;  to  preserve  and  to  perfect  the  church  in  that 
state  ;  to  accomplish  by  it  all  the  designs  of  God  in  the  New 
Creation  ;  to  reap  through  it,  all  the  glory  which  is  his  due  ; 
and  to  confer  by  it,  all  the  blessedness  compatible  with  that 
glory, 

9.  The  knowledge  of  God  which  is  attainable  by  man 
through  that  particular  Manifestation  of  God  in  the  New  Crea- 
tion, which  occurs  through  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
under  the  Gospel  Dispensation,  is  the  common  inheritance  of 
all  Christians.  This  is  the  exact  position  in  which  our  race  now 
stands  ;  the  exact  point  to  which  the  evangelical  efforts  of  every 
child  of  God  are  chiefly  directed  in  their  endeavors  to  advance 
their  own  souls  and  to  save  lost  men.  The  explication  of  it  in 
its  saving  application  to  the  human  soul,  belongs  to  that  other, 
or  Subjective  view  of  the  Knowledge  of  God,  which  is  the  com- 
plement of  the  view  herein  presented,  and  which  the  method  I 
pursue  £>ostpones  to  a  subsequent  place,  and  a  separate  treat- 
ment. I  therefore,  limit  myself  here  to  the  statement,  in  a 
systematic  manner,  cf  the  great  principles  and  truths  which  ap- 
pertain to  that  aspect  of  the  subject  under  immediate  considera- 
tion. First :  The  whole  Dispensation  of  the  Spirit  unto  the 
saving  knowledge  of  God  by  man,  has  perpetual  reference,  in 
every  state  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom,  to  the  Head  and  Lord  of 
that  kingdom  :  and  if  we  could  conceive  of  any  fundamental  va- 
riation in  the  universal  application  of  this  fundamental  truth,  it 
would  occur  in  the  more  earnest  and  thorough  application  of  it  in 
the  gospel  state  than  in  any  other.  But  there  is  no  such  variation. 
There  never  was  any  promise  of  eternal  life  made  to  fallen  man, 
except  through  the  Seed  of  the  woman  ;  and  there  never  was 

1  Heb.,  l.  1-3  ;  Eph.,  i.  10-12.  *  Eph.,  iii.  8-10;  1  Pet.,  i.  10-12. 


398  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

any  operation  of  the  Spirit  conducing  unto  the  eternal  life  of 
fallen  man  except  with  reference  to  that  Seed.  The  work  of  the 
Spirit  can  no  more  be  conceived  of  as  transcending  or  as  coming 
short  of  the  stipulations  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace — or  as  dislo- 
cated from  the  work  of  Christ,  than  the  work  of  Christ  can  he 
conceived  of  in  the  same  way  relatively  to  the  same  covenant  and 
to  the  boundless  love  and  the  eternal  purpose  of  the  Father,  of 
which  the  covenant  itself  is  an  outbirth,  and  the  work  both  of 
Christ  and  of  the  Spirit,  infinite  Manifestations.  Secondly  : 
Every  operation  of  the  Spirit  in  its  utmost  effusion,  has  rele- 
vancy to  the  Written  Word  ;  the  whole  of  which  has  been  Re- 
vealed or  Inspired  by  himself ;  the  true  discernment  of  which 
he  alone  can  bestow  ;  and  the  saving  power  of  which  is  the  re- 
sult of  his  co-operation.  Thirdly  :  The  entire  work  of  the  Spirit 
upon  the  mind,  and  conscience,  and  heart  of  man,  in  the  New 
Creation,  lias  continual  reference  to  the  work  of  God,  considered 
as  the  Creator  ;  and  therefore  continual  reference  to  the  nature 
of  man  himself;  the  light,  the  knowledge,  the  inclination,  the 
ability,  the  holiness,  the  life  which  he  imparts,  being  without 
violence  to  the  free,  intelligent,  and  moral  nature  of  the  creature. 
Fourthly :  In  the  same  manner,  the  dominion  of  God  as  the 
Providential  Ruler  of  the  universe,  is  scrupulously  respected  in 
the  whole  Dispensation  of  the  Spirit ;  insomuch  that  every  act 
of  Providence,  innumerable  as  they  are,  and  inexplicable  as  they 
may  appear  to  be,  is  turned  to  the  good  of  them  that  love  God, 
and  directed  to  the  certain  and  complete  salvation  of  the  heirs 
of  eternal  life.  And  so  the  Spirit  of  God,  whose  whole  work  is 
one  of  the  most  glorious  manifestations  of  God,  uses  all  the  other 
manifestations  of  God,  as  means  of  augmenting  beyond  concep- 
tion that  knowledge  of  God,  which  it  is  inseparable  from  his  own 
immediate  work  to  bestow.  The  end  of  his  whole  work  as  di- 
rected upon  man,  is  to  quicken  him  into  the  knowledge  of  God  ; 
to  transform  him  into  the  image  of  God  ;  and  to  fill  him  with 
the  fruition  of  God.  The  absolute  universality  of  this  condition 
of  man — and  that  not  imperfectly  as  in  us  now — but  unto  abso- 
lute perfection  in  every  human  being  ;  appears  to  be  the  lowest 
condition  which  the  Scriptures  permit  us  to  ascribe  to  the  Mil- 
lennial State.  Taking  human  nature  as  it  is,  if  the  causes  now  at 
work  are  competent  to  produce,  and  are  designed  to  produce  that 
condition,  in  its  universality  and  its  perfection ;  then  is  it  pos- 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  THE    NEW    CREATION.  399 

sible  that  the  Millennium  may  occur  as  the  consummate  resti- 
tution of  human  nature  as  it  is,  under  the  gospel  state,  and  as  a 
part  of  it.  If  otherwise,  it  must  necessarily  occur  after  the  gos- 
pel state  is  done  ;  or  to  man  in  some  other  condition  ;  or  as  a 
new  and  separate  state  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom. 

III. — 1.  The  relation  between  the  Spirit  and  the  Saviour  is 
such,  that  the  work  of  each  of  them  unto  salvation  depends  in 
a  very  peculiar  manner  upon  the  work  of  the  other.     The  order 
of  the  subsistence  of  the  Spirit  in  the  Trinity  as  the  Third  per- 
son thereof,  is  founded  in  his  eternal  procession  from  both  the 
others  : — and  so  being  the  Spirit  both  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  and  being  also  of  one  essence  with  both,  a  double  aspect  is 
given  to  all  divine  operations.     All  the  works  of  the  Spirit  are 
performed  by  the  same  divine  power  which  is  common  to  the  one 
divine  nature,  and  so  they  are  referred  to  the  one  Divine  Essence; 
and  yet  the  authority  of  the  Father,  and  the  love  and  wisdom  of 
the  Son  are  to  be  considered  in  all  the  acts  of  him  who  is  the 
Spirit  of  them  both,  while  his  own  peculiar  efficacy  is  also  to  ho 
considered.     The  promise  of  the  Spirit  to  his  disciples  by  the 
Saviour,  and  the  gift  of  him  to  the  church,  was  the  great  legacy 
of  the  Kedeemer.1     And  this  is  equally  true  whether  considered 
formally  under  an  apprehension  of  the   infinite  preciousness  of 
the  gift  itself;  or  materially,  under  the  idea  of  the  glorious  pur- 
poses and  ends  of  such  an  inestimable  gift2     On  the  one  hand, 
the  gifts  bestowed  on  the  church  through  him  are  boundless  in 
their  value  and  efficacy  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  profession 
required  of  all  believers,  has  nothing  more  indispensable  than 
the  avowing  of  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  which  if  they 
have  not  they  are  none  of  his.3     All  that  has  been  advanced  in 
this  chapter,  has  had  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  nature  and  the 
reality  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  attainable  by  man  through  the 
New  Creation — as  one  of  the  perpetual  fruits  of  the  manifesta- 
tion of  God  the   Spirit.     What  I  shall  further  advance  very 
briefly,  is  designed  to  disclose  in  some  degree  the  wonderful  mau- 
ner  of  working,  by  means  of  which  the  Spirit  becomes  the  author 
of  the  New  Creation,  and  therein  the  giver,  of  all  saving  Knowl- 
edge of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  the  Head  of  that  creation. 
2.  Jesus  Christ  the  head  of  the  New  Creation — became  In- 

•  Heb.,  ix.  15-17.  a  2  Cor.,  i.  22;  John,  xiv.  26-28,  xvi.  1-15. 

3  Eph.,  iv.  10-13;  Rom.,  viii.  9. 


400  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

carnate  by  taking  human  nature  into  hypostatical  union  with 
his  divine  nature  as  the  Son  of  God  ;  which  has  been  largely  ex- 
plained. But  this  assumption  of  human  nature  was  the  only 
immediate  act  of  the  Son  ;  and  he  alone  of  the  persons  of  the 
Trinity  performed  that  act,  and  became  Incarnate.1  The  onlj  ne- 
cessary consequence  of  this  act,  was  the  personal  union  of  the  two 
natures,  in  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  person  of  the  Man 
Jesus  being  swallowed  up  :  a  union  not  capable  of  dissolution, 
even  by  the  separation  of  the  soul  and  body  of  the  Man  Jesus, 
by  death  ;  because  it  was  not  the  union  of  that  soul  and  body 
with  each  other,  but  the  union  of  both  of  them  with  the  divine 
nature,  which  constituted  the  person  of  Christ.  Every  other 
result  of  the  union  of  the  divine  nature  in  the  person  of  the  Son, 
upon  the  human  nature  united  with  it,  was  absolutely  voluntary 
on  the  part  of  Christ  ;  the  human  nature  though  inconceivably 
advanced,  not  being  changed  in  its  essence,  nor  the  acts  of  the 
divine  nature  toward  it  ceasing  to  be  voluntary  acts.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  immediate  efficient  cause  in  all  external  divine  acts; 
and  he  is  as  really  the  Spirit  of  the  Son,  as  he  is  of  the  Father  :a 
he  is,  therefore,  the  immediate  operator  of  all  divine  acts  of  the 
Son,  even  those  on  his  own  human  nature.  Every  thing,  there- 
fore, involved  in  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son,  except  the  single 
act  of  assuming  human  nature,  was  wrought  thereunto  by  the 
Spirit.  The  miraculous  conception  and  formation  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  in  the  womb  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  out  of  the  sub- 
stance of  her  body,  was  the  peculiar  and  creating  work  of 
Spirit.3  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power 
of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee ;  is  the  manner  of  this 
New  Creation.4  The  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the 
waters;  is  the  manner  of  the  old  creation.5  The  primeval  prom- 
ise is  fulfilled  :  for  the  Son  of  God  is  made  of  a  woman,  and  is 
made  flesh.6  The  innumerable  intermediate  promises,  no  mat- 
ter how  special — are  all  fulfilled.  The  work  of  the  Spirit,  and 
this  act  of  Christ,  this  miraculous  conception  through  the  Spirit, 
and  this  assumption  of  human  nature  by  the  Son,  unitedly  solve 
the  mystery  of  Salvation.  Here  is  the  New  Creation  in  its  head, 
in  its  author,  and  in  its  ultimate,  positive,  controlling  facts. 
3.  The  human  nature  of  Christ  the  Second  Adam,  was  in 

1  John,  i.  14;  Rom.,  i.  4;  Gal.,  iv.  4.  a  Gal.,  iv.  6.  a  Luke,  i.  26-38 

4  Luke,  L  35.  t  Gen.,  i.  2.  6  Gal.,  iv.  4 ;  John,  i.  14. 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  THE     NEW    CREATION.  401 

no  way  implicated  in  the  fate  of  that  of  the  first  Adam.  The 
promise  of  the  Incarnation  was  not  given  to  Adam  until  he  fell  ; 
and  so  Messiah  was  not  implicated  at  all  in  the  Covenant  of 
W<  irks,  and  the  primeval  state  of  man.  The  fall  of  Adam  brought 
the  curse  and  penalty  of  that  brokeu  covenant,  upon  all  of  whom 
he  was  the  Federal  head  :  and  they  were  only  such  as  descended 
from  him  by  ordinary  generation  :  neither  of  which  relations  did 
Messiah  sustain  towards  him.  For  his  connection  with  human 
nature,  whether  the  manner  of  the  miraculous  assumption  of  it 
by  him,  or  the  manner  of  the  miraculous  formation  of  it  by 
the  Spirit,  of  the  bady  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  or  the  manner  of 
the  original  promise  of  God,  be  considered  ;  is  a  connection  with 
human  nature  real  and  complete,  but  also  with  human  nature 
pure  and  perfect.  From  the  moment  of  its  conception,  this  pure 
and  perfect  human  nature  of  Christ,  was  positively  endowed  by 
the  Spirit  with  all  grace.1  The  Spirit  was  given  to  him  without 
measure.2  All  powers  and  gifts  which  human  nature  could  con- 
tain were  bestowed  upon  him.3  Visible  and  audible  pledges 
were  given  him  from  heaven  :''  and  his  habitual  condition  was, 
that  he  was  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  :B  and  boundless  miraculous 
power  dwelt  in  him.6  He  was  guided,  sustained,  and  comforted 
by  the  Spirit,  throughout  his  whole  work  of  humiliation  :  and  in 
its  last  fearful  act,  he  offered  himself  up  to  God,  through  the 
eternal  Spirit,  a  sacrifice,  as  the  great  High  Priest  of  his  church, 
to  make  atonement  and  reconciliation  for  his  people.7  In  the 
state  of  the  dead,  the  angels  had  outward  charge  of  the  body  of 
Christ  :8  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  his  peculiar  care,  accomplished 
that  great  promise  of  God  that  the  Holy  One,  as  David  called 
him — the  Holy  Thing  announced  by  Gabriel  and  created  by  the 
Spirit,  should  not  see  corruption.9  His  human  soul,  Christ,  in 
the  very  article  of  death,  had  committed  to  the  special  care  of 
the  Father  ;  for  the  Father  had  engaged  himself  in  an  eternal 
covenant  to  preserve  him  even  in  death  ;  stipulating  expressly 
that  he  would  not  leave  his  soul  in  hell,  nor  suffer  his  body  to 
see  corruption  ;  but  that  he  would  show  him  again  the  path  of 
life,  and  that  while  his  body  was  under  the  power  of  death,  his 
soul  should  possess  the  fulness  of  joy  in  the  presence  of  God,  and 

1  John,  xi.  1-3.  5  John,  iii.  34  3  Isa.,  lxi.  1.  «  Mat.,  iii.  1G,  17. 

*  Luke,  iv.  1.  <*  Acts,  ii.  22.  7  Ileb.,  ix.  14         e  John,  xx.  12. 

0  Ps.,  xvl  10;  Luke,  i.  35;  Acts,  ii.  29-31. 

2G 


402  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IY. 

partake  at  his  right  hand  of  those  pleasures  which  arc  eternal.1 
The  resurrection  of  Christ  is  assigned  distinctly  to  each  person 
of  the  Trinity,  in  a  special  respect,  and  to  the  whole  Godhead  as 
an  undivided  act.  As  to  the  Father  in  respect  of  his  loosing  the 
pains  of  death.2  And  to  the  Son  himself,  in  respect  of  his  infin- 
ite power  and  right,  in  laying  down  his  life  and  taking  it  again.3 
But  the  peculiar  efficiency  whereby  the  body  of  Jesus  was  raised 
from  the  dead,  was  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost  :4  making  manifest 
thereby,  the  infinite  satisfaction  of  God  in  the  whole  work  of  Re- 
demption as  wrought  by  Christ.  And  again  :  the  Spirit  which 
made  the  human  nature  of  Christ  holy  at  first — and  afterwards 
quickened  it  again  and  restored  it  from  the  dead — also  made  it, 
glorious  :  meet  for  its  inconceivable  and  eternal  exaltation. 
When  he  appears  we  shall  be  like  him  :  for  he  will  change  our 
vile  bodies  that  they  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  glorious 
body  :  and  this  will  be  done  by  the  same  working  whereby  our 
souls  are  renewed  in  his  image,  and  whereby  he  is  enabled  to 
subdue  all  things  unto  himself ;  the  working,  namely,  of  the 
Eternal  Spirit.5  And  finally,  we  must  add  to  this  complete  and 
immeasurable  working  of  the  Spirit  in  the  person  of  Christ,  and 
on  it,  another  divine  operation  immediately  concerning  Christ, 
in  which  also  is  involved  the  foundation  of  the  whole  office  of  the 
Spirit  towards  the  church.  When  the  Comforter  is  come,  said 
the  Saviour,  whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  the 
Spirit  of  Truth  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he  shall  tes- 
tify of  me.6  This  divine  testimony  was  constantly  appealed  to 
by  the  Apostles  :  we  are  his  witnesses  of  these  things,  said  they, 
and  so  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  God  hath  given  to  them  that 
obey  him.7  And  it  is  a  testimony,  both  as  to  the  form  of  it  and 
the  substance  of  it,  both  as  it  is  outward  and  as  it  is  inward,  per- 
fectly complete  and  conclusive  ;  God  bearing  witness,  both  with 
signs  and  wonders,  and  with  divers  miracles  and  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  according  to  his  own  will.8  And  now  it  must  be  evident, 
that  if  what  has  been  advanced  in  this  and  the  next  preceding 
paragraph  can  be  accepted  as  a  true  account  of  these  sublime 
realities  :  then  the  whole  matter  of  the  New  Creation  lies  as  pal- 
pably before  us  as  an  object  of  distinct,  though  it  be  supernatural 

J  Ps.  xvi.  10,  11.  -  Acts,  ii.  24.  3  j0im;  x.  tff  13. 

*  1  Pet,  iii.  S  ;  Rom.,  viii.  2;  Eph.,  i.  17-20.  6  1  John,  iii.  2 ;  Phil.,  iii.  21. 

6  John,  xv.  2G.  7  Acts,  v.  32.  8  Heb.,  ii.  4. 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  THE    NEW    CREATION.  403 

knowledge,  ns  the  matter  of  the  old  creation  does  as  an  objc 
knowledge  of  any  kind  :  nay  that  nothing  can  he  conceived  i 
being  made  known  to  the  intelligence  of  man  more  precis 
than  that  there  is  a  Xew  Creation  ;  that  God  is  manifested  in  it 
as  the  Word  made  Flesh  who  is  the  Head  of  it  ;  and  that  he  is 
manifested  in  it  again  as  the  Holy  Ghost  who  is  the  author  of  it. 
4.  The  great  operations  which  follow  that  portion  of  the  work 
of  the  Spirit  which  relates  to  the  head  of  the  Xew  Creation, 
concern  first  the  body,  and  then  the  members  thereof.  The 
foundation  of  the  Gospel  church  state  lies  in  the  promise  of 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  the  erection  and  preservation  of  it  lie  In 
the  execution  of  his  work.1  The  Saviour  being  exalted  by  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father,  received  of  the  Father  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  the  manner  so  long  before  and  so  often  promised  :  and  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  shed  forth  by  the  bestowment  of  him,  the  won- 
ders of  grace  which  were  seen  and  heard  that  day  in  Jerusalem. 
That  one  body  of  Christ — the  Church  which  he  redeemed  with 
his  blood — is  made  partaker  of  every  gift  of  God  dependent  upon 
and  following  after  the  ascension  of  Christ,  through  that  Spirit : 
every  gift,  and  for  every  work,  unto  that  one  body  from  that  one 
Spirit.  And  in  this  manner  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  and  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ  will 
be  carried  on — tending  always  to  the  unity  of  the  faith,  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  to  the  perfection  of  man  unto 
the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ.  This  is  the 
vocation  wherewith  we  are  called.2  The  mystical  body  of  Christ 
is  no  less  really  the  work  of  the  Spirit  than  the  natural  body  of 
Christ  was :  and  his  work  of  a  Xew  Creation  appertains  as  really 
to  every  member  of  this  mystical  body,  as  his  creating  efficiency 
appertained  to  the  whole  of  that  old  creation  over  which  he 
brooded.  The  elect  of  God — the  redeemed  of  Christ — are  the 
matter  of  this  life-giving  work — the  members  of  this  mystical 
body  unto  whom  a  new  principle  of  spiritual  life  is  imparted  by 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Scriptures  continually  assert  the  necessity 
and  the  reality  of  this  Xew  Birth,  and  continually  ascribe  it  to 
the  Holy  Ghost.3  And  thus  the  second  part  of  the  Xew  Crea- 
tion is  completed,  and  a  mystical  body  is  prepared  for  Christ,  as 
before  a  natural  body  had  been,  by  the  Holy  Ghost.4     Xor  does 

1  Acts,  ii.  33  2  Eph.,  iv.  1-16. 

'  John,  iii.  3-G ;  Eom.,  viii.  1-12.  i  Col.,  iii.  10 ;  1  Cor.,  xii.  1-12. 


404  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

the  analogy  stop  here.  For  it  is  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  the  new 
life  implanted  in  every  regenerated  soul  is  preserved,  developed, 
and  advanced,  step  by  step,  and  from  one  degree  of  grace  and 
strength  unto  another,  until  every  one  of  them  in  Zion  appears 
before  God.1  The  author  of  this  progressive  Sanctification  of 
believers  is  the  Holy  Ghost :  and  indeed  it  is  the  immediate 
work  of  God  by  his  Spirit.2  The  end  of  which  is,  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  mystic  body  of  Christ  will  be  brought,  even  as  the 
natural  body  of  Christ  was  brought,  by  the  perfect  and  complete 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  an  infinite  glory  and  blessedness  cor- 
responding to  the  infinite  exaltation  of  Christ.3  And  thus  the 
wonderful  working  of  the  Spirit,  of  which  the  first  example  has 
been  given  with  some  exactness  touching  the  person  of  Christ — 
and  the  second  touching  his  mystical  body  and  the  members 
thereof  only  very  generally  ;  might  be  carried  through  every  state 
and  every  aspect,  and  every  relation  of  the  New  Creation.  As 
the  sum  of  the  wdiole,  I  will  add  but  one  word.  If  it  can  be 
proved,  or  if  it  is  admitted,  that  a  solitary  case  of  Spiritual  Be- 
generation  ever  occurred  among  men  ;  then  it  is  infallibly  cer- 
tain that  the  wonderful  facts  developed  in  this  chapter  are 
substantially  true.  Because  no  other  force  in  the  universe  is 
competent  to  that  result  except  the  force  here  developed  :  and 
because  no  other  intelligence  in  the  universe  ever  conceived  of 
such  a  result.  On  the  other  hand,  if  it  can  be  proved,  or  if  it  is 
admitted,  that  no  case  of  Spiritual  Eegeneration  ever  occurred  ; 
then  it  is  infallibly  certain,  that  human  nature  is  incompetent  to 
say  that  any  thing  whatever  is  either  true  or  real.  Because  there 
is  nothing  in  the  whole  range  of  possibilities  more  overwhelm- 
ingly proved  by  outward  testimony  and  inward  consciousness, 
than  that  Spiritual  Eegeneration  does  occur  ;  and  if  this  mass  ot 
proof  and  conviction  is  utterly  deceptive,  our  nature  is  utterly 
imbecile.  In  attempting  to  discredit  God,  we  only  degrade  our- 
selves. 

1  Tsalm  lxxxiv.  1.  s  1  Tbes.,  v.  23.  3  2  Tim.,  iv.  G-8. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

GOD    MANIFEST    IX    REVELATION— THE    GOD    OF    THE    SACRED 
SCRIPTURES. 

I.  1.  Statement  of  the  question. — 2.  Historic  Relation  of  the  Divine  Revelation  to  the 
Human  Race.— 3.  If  the  Scriptures  are  not  divine,  it  requires  a  divine  Intelli- 
gence to  state  what  they  are. — II.  1.  Both  methods  of  Divine  Manifestation 
combined  in  the  Scriptures. — 2.  The  Kingdom  of  God  and  the  Word  of  God,  in 
themselves  and  in  their  relation  to  each  other. — 3.  Scriptural  Conception  of  the 
nature  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  of  its  Origin. — L  Progress  of  the  Kingdom 
(a)  under  the  conception  of  the  Messianic  Kingom :  (b)  Of  the  New  Creation  :  (c) 
Of  the  Church  of  God. — 5.  Consummation  and  Triumph  of  the  Kingdom  under 
these  three  aspects. — G.  The  Scriptures  are  a  Treatise  of  God:  Developed  around 
the  conception  of  Immanuel:  Whoso  Author  is  the  Divine  Spirit. — III.  1.  The 
Scriptures  considered  in  their  power,  as  perfect  Truth. — 2.  In  the  efficacy  of  their 
infallible  method. — 3.  State  of  the  question  as  to  their  being  Inspired  and  Revealed. 
4.  Both  inevitable  upon  the  data  proved. — 5.  True  source  of  unbelief. 

I. — 1.  The  knowledge  of  God,  as  he  manifests  himself  in 
Creation  and  in  Providence,  is  addressed  to  our  intelligence  after 
a  manner  altogether  natural ;  in  Redemjotion  and  in  the  New 
Creation  after  a  manner  altogether  supernatural.  In  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  and  in  the  soul  of  man,  the  manifestation  of  God  to 
our  intelligence  is  by  both  methods  combined.  These,  as  has 
been  shown,  are  the  only  methods  of  the  divine  manifestation  to 
us,  and  these  are  the  only  divine  applications  of  these  methods 
respectively.  It  is  not  possible  for  us  to  know  God  by  any  other 
methods.  By  each  of  these  methods,  and  by  all  the  ways  in 
which  they  are  divinely  used,  we  may  obtain  perfect  assurance 
of  the  existence  of  God,  and  all  the  knowledge  of  him  which  is 
appropriate  to  each  particular  method  and  way  ;  and  by  all  of 
them  combined,  the  perfect  knowledge  of  him,  to  the  whole  ex- 
tent that  our  nature  is  competent  to  its  attainment,  is  made 
accessible  to  us.  Having  completed  the  investigation  of  the  first 
two  of  these  methods,  and  of  the  divine  applications  of  each  of 
(hem,  we  advance  to  the  third  method,  which  is  the  combination 


40G  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

of  both  the  others.  Of  the  two  divine  applications  of  this  third 
method,  the  Sacred  Scriptures  furnish  one,  and  the  soul  of  man 
the  other.  They  will  he  subjected  to  inquiry  in  that  order,  be- 
cause the  soul  bears  to  the  Scriptures,  as  it  does  to  every  other 
manifestation  of  God,  only  the  relation  of  a  means,  while  the 
Scriptures,  like  all  the  four  preceding  manifestations,  bear  to  the 
soul  the  relation  not  merely  of  a  means,  but  also  of  an  incalcul- 
able force. 

2.  Whatever  knowledge  we  have  historically  of  the  human 
race  more  ancient  than  about  twenty-five  centuries,  we  derive 
exclusively  from  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  We  must  ac- 
cept them  as  true,  or  be  content  to  remain  in  profound  ignorance 
of  the  origin  of  mankind,  and  of  the  progress  of  our  race  during 
the  greater  portion  of  its  existence,  as  recounted  by  them.  Tak- 
ing our  race  as  a  whole,  we  have  no  knowledge  of  its  having  ex- 
isted  in  ignorance  of  a  portion  of  the  Revelations  which  these 
Scriptures  contain  ;  and  we  know  positively  that  portions  of  the 
race  ]  ossessed  portions  of  these  Scriptures  in  their  present  form, 
and  declared  them  to  be  ancient  records,  at  the  very  earliest 
period  of  profane  history  ;  and  that  the  knowledge  and  the  ven- 
eration of  them  have  continually  widened  and  deepened  amongst 
men  throughout  the  whole  historic  period.  They  contain  in  a 
most  remarkable  manner  the  connected  and  exact  history  of 
man,  in  a  precise  and  unbroken  channel,  from  the  moment  of  his 
creation.  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  Jesus.  These  names, 
and  the  eras  which  they  recall,  and  the  record  which  expounds 
and  connects  them  all,  cover  more  than  forty  centuries.  These 
centuries  and  this  record  terminate  in  the  very  bosom  of  authentic 
history,  at  the  culmination  of  the  Roman  Empire,  the  last  of  the 
universal  World  Powers,  at  the  very  prime  of  the  Gospel  Church 
State,  while  the  last  of  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord  was  consum- 
mating all  the  record  of  the  past,  and  projecting  the  light  of 
prophecy  to  the  end  of  time. 

3.  It  is  in  vain  that  we  would  shut  our  eyes  and  turn  our 
backs  on  such  a  monument  as  this.  So  grand,  so  unique,  so  de- 
cisive of  the  fate  of  man  !  We  must  decide  upon  its  claims  : 
we  must  form  some  estimate  of  it :  we  must  render  to  ourselves, 
some  intelligible  account  of  it :  we  must  confront  it.  In  gen- 
eral, I  will  limit  myself  here  to  two  remarks,  both  of  which  ap- 
pear to  me  to  be  decisive.     The  first,  which  I  may  say  is  %>ositive 


CBAP.  XXVIII.]       GOD     MANIFEST     IN     REVELATION.       407 

that  if  those  Scriptures  are  allowed  to  l>e  what  they  claim  to 
be,  namely,  the  "Word  of  God,  then  they  Bolve  in  a  manner  ab- 
tely  complete,  every  problem,  whether  moral,  cosmical,  or 
historical,  which  the  origin  and  total  progress  of  the  human  race 
taken  as  a  whole — suggests  to  the  mind  of  man  :  while,  if  their 
claim-  are  rejected  there  are  multitudes  of  problems  both  moral, 
cosmical,  and  historical,  and  they  of  the  most  vital  import,  which 
become  at  once  wholly  insoluble:  and  what  is  more,  that  very 
insolubility  arises  from  causes  wholly  inexplicable,  except  as 
those  causes  are  explained  by  the  very  Scriptures  we  reject.  The 
second  remark,  which  I  may  say  is  negative  is,  that  while  these 
Scriptures  have  declared  to  us  from  age  to  age,  immense  truths 
perpetually  new  and  perpetually  increasing  in  fulness — as  relates 
both  to  God  and  to  our  own  souls  :  the  whole  human  race  dur- 
ing nearly  eighteen  centuries  which  have  elapsed  since  the  canon 
of  Scripture  was  closed,  has  not  added  to  our  stock  of  knowledge 
one  solitary  truth  respecting  God,  or  respecting  our  souls  :  and 
what  is  more,  the  whole  human  race,  during  more  than  forty 
centuries  covered  by  the  period  during  which  the  revelation  con- 
tained in  these  Scriptures  were  given  to  man,  never  stated  even 
the  smallest  of  the  truths  touching  God  and  our  souls,  as  dis- 
tinctly as  they  are  all  stated  by  them  :  nor  is  the  whole  human 
race  competent  to  do  so  now,  after  possessing  for  uearly  sixty 
centuries,  a  divine  model  for  such  statements.  Upon  these  two 
grounds  it  may  be  confidently  asserted,  that  if  these  Scriptures 
are  not  the  product  of  a  superhuman  intelligence,  it  requires  a 
rhuman  intelligence  to  determine  what  they  are  the  pro- 
duct of. 

II. — 1.  It  is  in  this  light,  namely,  that  the  Scriptures  are 
the  product  of  a  divine  Intelligence,  that  they  are  to  be  consid- 
ered a  manifestation  of  God.  It  is  as  though  God  spoke  per- 
sonally to  us  :  and  therefore  it  is  a  supernatural  method  of 
bringing  the  Knowledge  of  God  within  the  sphere  of  our  intelli- 
gence. But  this  i<  qualified  in  a  peculiar  manner  ;  in  the  first 
place,  by  making  human  beings  like  ourselves  the  channel  of 
these  divine  communications,  so  that  they  are  mediate  and  not 
immediate  ;  and  in  the  second  place,  by  giving  to  the  communi- 
cations themselves,  a  permanent  and  connected  form,  in  writing, 
whereby  our  intelligence  may  address  itself  to  their  study,  as  to 
any  other  permanent  truth.     In  these  two  respects,  this  method 


408  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV, 

of  the  divine  manifestation,  adds  to  what  is  supernatural  in  it, 
much  also  that  is  natural  to  us.  The  question  of  the  divine  in- 
fluence upon  man  in  order  to  the  production  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  the  question  of  the  capacity  of  man  to  comprehend  them, 
whether  Avithout  or  with  further  supernatural  aid,  are  certainly 
of  the  deepest  import.  Both  of  these  will  be  briefly  considered, 
after  Ave  have  first  endeavored  to  obtain  a  clear  conception  of  the 
Scriptures  themselves,  taken  as  a  Avhole,  and  contemplated  in 
the  manner  just  indicated. 

2.  These  Scriptures  present  to  us  every  Avhere,  the  idea  of  a 
Divine  kingdom  which  though  in  this  world,  is  not  of  it.  When 
Ave  speak  of  this  as  the  Messianic  kingdom,  we  have  special  rela- 
tion to  the  dominion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as  Mediator  betAveen  God 
and  men  ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  the  poAvers  of  this  Avorld  as 
they  stand  in  antagonism  thereto.  When  we  speak  of  it  as  the 
New  Creation,  we  have  special  relation  to  the  same  kingdom  as 
founded,  Avrought  out,  and  perfected  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And 
when  we  speak  of  the  church  of  God,  Ave  have  special  relation  to 
the  same  kingdom,  considered  as  manifested  in  its  oavii  members, 
gathered  out  of  the  world,  and  become  subject  by  a  new  creation 
to  their  diA'ine  Lord.  The  conception  of  such  a  kingdom  with 
Avhich,  under  the  several  prevailing  aspects  just  indicated,  the 
Scriptures  are  pregnant,  is  founded  upon  the  two  ideas  of  the 
apostacy  of  man,  and  of  the  purpose  of  God  to  reclaim  and  to 
punish  that  apostacy.  And  that  purpose  of  God  to  reclaim  and 
to  punish,  is  fouuded  in  the  design  of  making  himself  known  to 
his  universe,  first  for  the  illustration  of  his  OAvn  glory,  and  se- 
condly for  the  blessedness  of  the  creature.  Now  the  Scriptures 
appertain  to  this  kingdom  of  God,  under  the  threefold  aspect  of 
it,  as  the  Dominion  of  Messiah,  as  the  New  Creation,  and  as  the 
Church  of  God,  in  a  manner  at  once  absolute  and  universal. 
They  contain  a  complete  account  of  its  origin,  of  its  development 
and  progress  through  all  time,  and  of  its  infinitely  glorious  con- 
summation and  final  triumph.  They  are  the  Divine  record  of 
this  heavenly  kingdom,  in  a  manner  incomparably  more  com- 
plete, and  Avith  an  infinitely  more  exact  unity  of  design,  than  we 
can  conceiAre  it  possible  for  the  history,  the  laws,  the  manners, 
the  institutions  and  the  whole  literature  of  any  earthly  kingdom, 
to  be  considered,  in  their  totality,  the  record  of  it.  For  herein, 
nothing  is  omitted  AAdiich  is  needful  to  make  our  knowledge  com- 


CHAP.  XXVIII.]      GOD    MANIFEST    IN    REVELATION.       409 

plete  :  and  nothing  is  introduced  concerning  any  thing  exterior 
to  the  kingdom,  which  is  not  necessary  to  elucidate  something 
involved  in  the  kingdom  itself,  in  some  aspect  of  it.  Here  is  the 
kingdom  of  God  as  conceived  of  by  himself  :  and  here  in  his  writ- 
ten word  is  the  whole  divine  record  of  that  kingdom. 

3.  As  connected  with  the  origin  of  this  kingdom  of  God, 
these  Scriptures  give  to  us  a  precise  account  of  the  creation  of 
man  and  of  the  universe.  Xo  less  exactly,  the  original  and 
glorious  state  of  man  :  the  covenant  of  works  which  God  en- 
tered into  with  him  :  the  temptation  and  fall  of  the  first  parents 
of  the  race — incidentally  the  invisible  world  :  and  then  again 
precisely,  the  sentence  of  God  upon  the  tempter,  upon  our  first 
parents,  and  upon  the  universe  now  polluted  by  sin  and  defaced 
by  misery.  In  the  midst  of  this  scene  of  ruin,  is  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  that  glorious  kingdom,  of  which  Messiah  is  the  head, 
of  which  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  Creator,  and  of  which  redeemed 
souls  are  the  members.  And  here,  at  the  very  moment  when  all 
was  lost,  is  the  first  articulate  utterance  concerning  that  eternal 
Covenant  of  Grace,  by  which  life  and  immortality,  in  a  new  and 
more  glorious  form,  are  brought  to  light  by  the  gospel  of  God. 
I  restrain  all  comment  upon  these  transcendent  themes.  But 
may  it  not  be  said  in  all  sobriety,  that  a  few  pages  of  the  Word 
of  God  from  which  this  imperfect  summary  is  condensed  into 
this  brief  paragraph,  give  us  a  clearer  and  a  more  satisfactory 
account  of  all  of  them,  than  is  to  be  gathered  from  the  whole 
mass  of  uniuspired  writings  of  the  human  race,  touching  anj  one 
of  them  ? 

4.  Startiug  from  this  point,  the  Kingdom  of  God,  in  the 
threefold  aspect  of  it  already  pointed  out,  makes  its  progress  on- 
ward and  still  onward — across  the  endless  generations.  It  alone 
survived  the  catastrophe  of  the  human  race  at  the  flood:  it  alone 
will  survive  the  catastrophe  of  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord  : 
it  alone  will  survive  the  catastrophe  of  the  final  conflagration. 
Always  side  by  side  with  this  sublime  progress,  which  is  also  a 
perpetual  and  sublime  development— always,  too,  in  advance  of 
this  progress,  by  throwing  forward  a  prophetic  light  upon  all 
future  time  ;  the  Eevelation  of  God  accompanies  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  It  is  its  rule  of  duty;  it  is  its  rule  of  faith  ;  it  is  the 
nourishment  of  the  very  life  which  it  records  ;  it  is  unto  it  that 
very  manifestation  of  God  which,  as  I  am  seeking  to  show,  it  is 


410  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

also  to  us.  And  to  inake  this  somewhat  more  distinct,  let  lis 
consider  separately  hut  with  great  brevity,  the  progress  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  under  each  of  its  three  grand  aspects. 

(a.)  In  developing  the  nature  and  recounting  the  progress  of 
the  Messianic  Kingdom,  from  its  origin  till  its  consummation, 
the  Scriptures  develop  prophetically  by  the  side  of  it  the  nature, 
and  recount  the  progress  and  ruin  of  all  the  universal  World- 
Powers.  And  then  develop  the  nature,  rise,  progress  and 
ruin  of  the  two  great  apostacies  of  Mohammed  and  of  Rome  ; 
which  respectively  sought  to  perpetuate  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West  under  a  new  and  peculiar  form,  the  dominion  of  those  uni- 
versal empires  ;  and  which  defile  some  of  the  fairest  portions  of 
the  earth,  even  to  our  day.  Under  this  combined  view,  the  whole 
career  of  the  human  race,  the  whole  progress  of  human  civiliza- 
tion, are  wrought  prophetically  and  historically  into  the  august 
narrative  :  and  the  perpetual  contrast  of  a  career  and  a  civiliza- 
tion with  the  true  Knowledge  of  God,  and  without  that  Knowl- 
edge— and  that  commensurate  with  all  time — is  laid  open  before 
us.  In  the  midst  of  these  vast  ideas,  two  others  still  more  sub- 
lime than  they  preside  continually.  The  idea  of  a  divine  Provi- 
dence in  its  silent,  irresistible,  and  omnipresent  force  conducting 
all  things,  through  all  ages,  to  their  predestinated  end :  and  the 
idea  of  Messiah  himself — the  God-man — long  promised — finally 
incarnate  ;  the  teacher  of  all  teachers — the  crucified — the  risen 
— the  glorified — the  giver  of  the  Holy  Ghost — the  inconceivably 
glorious  King — and  Lord — and  Restorer  of  the  universe  ! 

(b.)  Under  the  conception  of  the  New  Creation,  another  as- 
pect of  the  progress  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  with  new  ideas 
and  wondrous  knowledge — is  developed  throughout  the  Sacred 
Scriptures.  Fallen  man  is  no  longer  fit  for  the  service,  no  longer 
competent  to  the  enjoyment  of  God  :  and  the  way  of  life  under 
the  Covenant  of  Works  is  closed  forever.  It  behooved  that  the 
universe  must  lie  under  a  perpetual  curse,  and  the  whole  human 
race  must  perish  ;  or  that  a  better  covenant  must  be  revealed  to 
man,  and  a  New  Creation  fit  him  for  its  blessings  and  fit  the 
earth  itself  for  a  habitation  of  God.  This  New  Creation  is  what 
the  Scriptures  reveal  to  us,  in  its  nature,  its  form,  its  design,  its 
progress  and  its  whole  effects.  With  the  first  steps  of  its  pro- 
gress emerges  the  glory  of  the  third  person  of  the  adorable  Trin- 
ity— the  author  of  the  New  Creation :  and  therewith  as  his  work 


CHAP.  XXVIII.]       GOD     MANIFEST     IN     REVELATION.        411 

advances,  the  full  knowledge  of  the  mode  of  the  divine  existence. 
The  Btrugg]  d  and  evil,  throughout  all  generations  is 

everywhere  developed  :  the  malice  of  hell — the  blessedness  of 
Gospel  holiness  :  the  successive  revelation  of  divine  truth,  con- 
summated at  last  in  the  Great  Teacher.  Inspiration  reducing 
the  "Word  to  a  written  form,  and  dwelling  thus  during  sixteen 
centuries  in  holj  men  of  God  :  Prophecy,  attested  in  its  perpet- 
ual fulfilment,  to  every  generation  of  men  :  miracles  avouching 
every  word  that  proceeded  out  of  the  mouth  of  God  :  the  new 
birth  and  the  sanctification  of  believers,  demonstrating  every  day 
of  the  whole  life  of  the  world,  that  the  Word  of  God  is  indeed 
a  Gospel  unto  man,  and  that  it  is  a  divine  power  unto  Salva- 
tion ! 

(c)  The  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  considered  as  his 
Church,  purchased  by  the  blood  of  his  Son,  and  created  anew  by 
his  Spirit  ;  is  developed  throughout  the  Scriptures — from  the 
first  promise  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  till  it  is  finally  delivered  up 
in  spotless  glory  upon  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life.  It  is  the  grand 
peculiarity  of  this  manifestation  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  that  it 
is  considered  chiefly  in  its  members  :  as  in  the  first  of  the  two 
preceding  it  is  considered  chiefly  in  its  Head,  and  in  the  second 
in  its  Author.  And  thus  every  stage  of  the  progress  of  the 
Church,  and  every  step  in  its  development,  is  presented  to  us 
throughout  the  Scriptures  in  a  manner  the  most  distinct  :  so 
that  the  successive  patriarchal  conditions  of  it — Adamic,  No- 
acic,  Abrahamic  ;  and  its  Theocratic  condition  under  the  Mo- 
saic institutions  ;  and  its  thoroughly  miraculous  condition  during 
the  ministry  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles  ;  and  its  purely  spiritual 
condition  thenceforward  to  the  Millennium  under  the  special 
dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  the  burden  of  the  word  of 
God,  whether  historically,  prophetically,  doctrinally,  or  spirit- 
ually considered.  To  this  Church  of  God,  militant  throughout 
all  ages,  is  committed  alike  the  conversion  of  the  world,  and  the 
illustration  of  God's  great  glory  to  the  universe  :  and  the  Scrip- 
tures are  at  once  the  means,  the  warrant,  the  record  and  the 
guarantee  of  her  work  :  and  her  progress  is  the  progress  of  the 
accomplishment  of  God's  Covenant  of  Redemption,  and  of  the 
recapitulation  of  all  things  in  his  only  begotten  Son,  the  Saviour 
of  the  world.  She  is  the  Bride  of  the  Lamb,  and  on  her  has  been 
bestowed  through  the  long  ages,  gift  after  gift,  and  grace  upon 


412  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

grace — all  worthy  of  her  eternal  Lord,  and  all  marking  the  fixed- 
ness and  the  boundlessness  of  his  love  ;  insomuch  that  if  it  can 
be  said  that  God  has  ever  made  assured  provision  for  any  thing- 
whatever — he  has  provided  that  his  Church  shall  know  him,  and 
that  men  may  know  him  through  her  ! 

5.  I  have  said  that  it  is  not  only  the  origin  and  the  progress 
of  this  kingdom  of  God  in  this  threefold  aspect  ;  but  that  it  is 
also  its  infinitely  glorious  consummation  and  final  triumph  in  all 
of  those  aspects — concerning  which  the  Scriptures  are  an  infalli- 
ble means  of  the  knowledge  of  God.  It  is  this  point  which  we 
now  reach.  As  yet,  we  have  not  seen  all  things  put  under  the 
feet  of  Jesus,  and  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  swallowed  up  in 
the  Messianic  kingdom.  As  yet,  we  have  not  seen  whole  na- 
tions born  at  once  ;  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  springing  into 
life  from  the  decaying  bosom  of  the  old  ;  and  all  things  resti- 
tuted in  a  New  Creation.  As  yet,  we  have  not  seen  the  Church 
of  the  living  God  dwelling  in  the  New  Jerusalem  come  down 
from  God  out  of  heaven,  adorned  as  a  bride  for  her  husband  ; 
the  tabernacle  of  God  with  men  ;  and  all  that  is  worthy  of  glory 
and  honor  in  all  nations,  brought  and  laid  at  his  feet.  We  have 
heard  his  voice  from  the  cross  saying,  It  is  finished  !  We  have 
yet  to  hear  his  voice  from  heaven  saying,  It  is  done !  But  we 
look  for  all  these  things,  and  for  the  time  when  we  shall  know 
even  as  we  are  known  ;  with  confidence  exactly  proportioned  to 
the  power  of  the  new  life  that  has  been  begotten  in  us  by  the 
Spirit,  to  the  trust  we  repose  in  Messiah,  and  to  our  fitness  to 
inherit  the  glory  which  is  to  be  revealed.  The  ruin  of  every 
enemy  of  God- — the  death  of  death — the  millennial  reign— the 
general  judgment — the  eternal  life  in  the  realms  of  light !  We 
have  behind  us  nearly  sixty  centuries  of  proof.  We  have  around 
us  in  our  brethren,  living  monuments  of  God's  redeeming  love, 
God's  stainless  truth.  We  have  in  our  hands,  the  promise  of 
his  coming  ten  thousand  times  repeated.  We  have  in  our  souls, 
the  imperishable  marks  of  what  he  can  do  and  will  do.  We  are 
not  mad  ;  we  only  believe.  Believe  and  are  sure,  upon  the 
ground  of  ultimate,  divine  necessities — which  are  ten  thousand 
times  stronger  than  any  ultimate,  human  necessities  upon  which 
we  feel  ourselves  incapable  of  doubting  the  realities  of  our  pres- 
ent condition. 

6.  It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  the  Scriptures  in  the  man- 


CHAP.  XXVIII.]       GOD    MANIFEST     IN     REVELATION.      413 

ncr  I  have  pointed  out,  without  perceiving  that  we  are  obliged  to 
accept  them,  on  the  one  side,  as  a  supernatural  manifestation  of 
God,  and  on  the  other  side  as  manifesting  God  in  a  manner  more 
permanently  within  the  sphere  of  our  intelligence  than  any  other 
method  external  to  us,  can  be.  But  there  are  other  things  to  be 
taken  into  our  estimate  of  the  Scriptures,  which  distinguish  them 
still  more  remarkably,  and  which  intensify  to  the  most  exalted 
degree,  both  the  unity  of  their  scope  and  the  combined  fulness 
and  distinctness  of  the  divine  knowledge  they  impart.  In  the 
jirst  place,  it  is  to  be  noted,  that  the  Scriptures  expressly  make 
God  the  particular  and  ultimate  subject  of  all  their  teachings. 
From  beginning  to  end,  they  are  a  treatise  concerning  the  Divine 
Being.  It  is  his  Creation,  his  Providence,  his  Grace,  they  de- 
velop. It  is  his  Covenant  of  Works  whose  breach  destroyed  man, 
his  Covenant  of  Grace  by  which  man  is  rescued.  It  is  his  love 
which  prompts  all,  his  Son  who  executes  all,  his  Spirit  who  per- 
fects all,  his  Word  which  reveals  all.  Messiah  is  the  Christ  of 
God  ;  the  New  Creation  is  the  work  of  God's  Spirit ;  the  Church 
is  the  Church  of  God  ;  and  it  is  God's  Kingdom  which  embraces 
all.  We  can  no  more  understand  the  Scriptures  and  still  con- 
tinue ignorant  of  God,  than  we  can  behold  the  universe  without 
partaking  of  its  light.  In  the  second  place,  the  actual  develop- 
ment of  the  grand  unity  of  the  Scriptures,  considered  as  a  treat- 
ise of  the  Divine  Being,  is  around  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God. 
It  is  not  God  infinitely  separated  from  us  ;  it  is  God  with  us  ; 
it  is  Immaniul  who  is  held  before  us  with  a  perpetual  distinct- 
ness. It  is  about  his  person,  and  work,  and  glory,  that  all  things 
cluster,  that  all  things  tend — that  the  Scriptural  conception  of 
God  opens  ilvjelf  clearly.  If  the  Scriptures  were  conceived  of  as 
being  re-cast,  and  digested  into  a  connected  biography  of  the 
second  person  of  the  Trinity,  no  one  can  point  out  what  portion 
of  them  could  be  omitted  without  obscuring  the  idea  we  have  of 
the  divine  Teacher,  Kuler,  Redeemer.  In  this  manner  a  unity 
in  the  highest  degree  personal,  is  given  to  elements  so  immense, 
so  divine  and  so  complicated  ;  and  the  knowledge  of  God  thus 
educed,  is  delivered  to  man  in  such  a  manner,  that  he  is  obliged, 
as  it  were,  to  hide  his  face  from  it,  in  order  to  avoid  it.  In  the 
third  place,  the  whole  of  these  Scriptures  are  the  product  of  one 
single  mind,  and  that  a  divine  mind  ;  thereby  stamping  upon 
them,  in  another  form,  that  transcendent  unity  of  their  great  de- 


414  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

sijrn,  that  assured  truth  and  coherence  of  their  whole  matter,  and 
that  infinite  perfection  of  their  manifold  form;  which  place  them 
at  an  immeasurable  distance  from  all  other  writings.  Even  in 
the  Book  of  Nature,  as  we  painfully  turn  over  its  gigantic  pages, 
we  find  nothing  so  clearly  written,  as  the  oneness  of  the  author 
of  it  all.  And  the  Book  of  Providence,  with  so  many  countless 
millions  of  records  which  our  short  pilgrimage  does  not  suffice  for 
us  to  inspect,  and  so  many  countless  millions  more  of  which  we 
cannot  decipher  even  so  much  as  the  alphabet ;  yet  all  we  can 
construe  to  ourselves,  has  nothing  so  obvious  as  that  the  image 
and  superscription  are  the  same,  and  even  what  is  closely  sealed 
against  our  inspection,  has  the  mark  of  the  eternal  King  stamped 
broadly  on  it  all.  But  what  is  all  this  compared  to  the  impress- 
ion we  derive  of  the  unicpueness  of  the  Word  of  God,  as  we  stand 
face  to  face  with  the  Holy  Ghost  therein  ?  Unspeakably  various 
and  difficult  as  the  contents  of  the  Scriptures  are,  and  supreme 
as  is  the  aspect  which  they  continually  present,  no  volume  worthy 
to  be  studied  was  ever  placed  in  the  hands  of  man,  of  whose  gene- 
ral conception  a  more  distinct  idea  could  be  formed,  and  whose 
grand  aim  and  method  were  so  difficult  to  be  misunderstood. 

III. — 1.  It  may  be  confidently  asserted  that  the  result  to 
which  the  foregoing  analysis  conducts  us,  is  wholly  unavoidable. 
If  God  is  manifest  in  these  Scriptures  in  any  such  manner  as  has 
been  pointed  out,  then  these  Scriptures  are  an  infallible  repos- 
itory of  the  knowledge  of  God  unto  Salvation  ;  and  God,  objec- 
tively considered,  is  brought  completely  within  the  sphere  of 
human  intelligence,  by  a  permanent  Eevelation.  Whatever 
power  is  in  all  truth,  considered  of  itself,  is  also  in  this  truth  con- 
sidered of  itself.  Natural  light,  by  which  all  things  are  mani- 
fested, makes  itself  manifest :  and  truth  performs  towards  the 
spiritual  essence  of  man  an  office  analogous — but  more  perfect — 
to  that  performed  by  light  through  his  organism  of  sight.  What 
the  force  of  this  power  may  be,  in  either  case,  depends  partly  on 
the  power  itself,  but  partly  also  upon  the  recipient  of  the  power. 
To  the  blind,  light  manifests  nothing  :  to  an  exquisite  sensibility 
its  manifestations  are  inestimable.  To  the  coarse,  and  narrow, 
and  feeble,  and  depraved  spirit— truth  in  its  very  simplest  form 
may  be  hardly  distinguishable  :  while  to  the  pure  and  highly 
gifted  spirit,  even  the  highest  and  remotest  truth  may  come  with 
a  self-evident  clearness.     It  is  a  wondrous  power — wondrously 


CHAP.  XXVIII.]       GOD     MANIFEST    IN    REVELATION.       415 

neglected  by  the  teachers  of  mankind.  But  whatever  the  power 
may  he,  it  resides  in  this  truth  of  God  with  a  potency  unknown 
to  every  other  form  of  truth.  Because  this  form  of  truth  is 
wholly  unmixed,  that  is,  it  has  no  error  in  it :  and  because, 
again,  it  is  absolutely  complete,  that  is,  it  has  omitted  nothing. 
For  the  Scriptures  restate  with  perfect  clearness  and  with  divine 
authority,  every  truth  of  Natural  Religion  :  and  then  they  add, 
by  Revelation,  all  new  truth  that  involves  Salvation.  And  then 
they  seal  the  certitude  of  both.  For  it  is  by  Inspiration  of  God 
that  holy  men  have  been  infallibly  directed  what  things  to  record, 
of  those  they  might  know  without  Revelation  ;  and  what  things 
to  add  of  the  unknown,  Bevealed  unto  them.  They  who  revere 
truth  of  itself — they  who  justly  exalt  its  sublime  efficacy — let 
them  know  that  God  has  brought  all  this  within  their  reach,  on 
themes  compared  with  which  all  other  themes  are  worthless,  and 
in  a  form  compared  with  which  all  other  forms  are  vile. 

2.  But  there  is  far  more.  For  besides  containing  unmixed 
and  complete  truth — and  that  delivered  in  a  manner  incom- 
parably unique,  and  with  a  certitude  unapproachable  in  any 
other  form  of  truth  ;  the  Scriptures  add  this,  namely,  that  they 
make  known  to  us  a  divine  method  of  ascertaining  with  infallible 
certainty,  and  to  the  utmost  extent  of  our  own  intelligence — the 
perfect  sense  of  the  truth  they  contain.  This  divine  method 
embraces  all  the  outward  means  provided  in  the  Word  of  God  for 
perpetuating  and  extending  the  knowledge  of  himself:  and  all 
the  inward  movement  of  the  human  soul,  so  far  as  it  is  itself 
active  in  these  great  processes,  from  the  first  sense  of  its  own 
blameworthiness  with  which  its  new  career  commences,  onward 
to  the  highest  attainments  possible  for  it  in  its  new  form  of  life. 
This  latter  department  of  the  divine  method  of  knowing  God  by 
means  of  revealed  truth,  appertains  in  a  special  manner,  to  the 
subjective  view  of  the  knowledge  of  God  ;  and  it  would  be  un- 
timely and  impossible  to  treat  it  aright  here,  in  a  few  sentences. 
The  firmer  department  embraces  all  that  Christians  call  the 
outward  means  of  grace.  The  church  of  God,  as  held  forth  in 
her  divinely  appointed  form  :  the  discipline  of  that  divine  Insti- 
tution :  her  appointed  worship,  in  all  its  parts,  of  prayer,  praise, 
the  preaching  of  the  everlasting  Gospel,  the  administration  of 
her  Sacraments,  with  alms  and  fasts,  and  every  good  work.  I 
need  not  add,  the  diligent  study  of  the  truth  we  desire  to  under- 


416  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

stand,  nor  the  diligent  endeavor  to  incorprate  practically  with 
our  being,  so  much  of  it  as  we  know :  because  these  are  con- 
ditions not  peculiar  to  the  revealed  method  of  knowing  divine 
truth — much  as  they  are  insisted  on  therein  ;  but  they  are  con- 
ditions common  to  the  true  acquisition  of  truth  under  every  pos- 
sible form,  and  in  the  absence  of  which  no  considerate  person 
can  imagine  that  any  truth  can  be  acquired  aright.  But  neither 
is  this  the  whole  of  the  infallible  method  by  which  it  is  revealed 
to  us,  that  we  may  come  to  the  perfect  knowledge  of  all  truth 
uuto  Salvation.  At  this  point  the  Scriptures  themselves  pass,  in 
a  peculiar  manner,  into  the  subjective  part  of  this  sublime  topic, 
and  the  truth  they  reveal  becomes  the  instrument  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  his  enlightening,  quickening,  and  sanctifying  work  in 
the  human  soul  :  the  whole  discussion  of  which  appertains,  to 
that  other  aspect  of  the  knowledge  of  God.  A  divine  method 
perfect  in  its  abundant  outward  means — and  perfect  also  in  its 
inward  efficacy  :  a  method  so  thorough,  that  the  portions  of  it 
which  are  outward  have  a  perpetual  tendency  to  the  portions 
which  are  inward,  and  finally,  in  their  highest  application — pass 
over  into  the  soul  in  a  manner  absolutely  peculiar  to  themselves  : 
a  method  which  commences  with  the  simplest  parts  of  truth — 
and  ends  by  making  the  soul  the  abode  of  the  Spirit  of  God  him- 
self— who  is  the  author  of  all  truth  !  Can  we  dare  to  say  of  the 
Scriptures  as  a  manifestation  of  God,  that  their  power  of  impart- 
ing the  knowledge  of  him  is  less  than  transcendent  ? 

3.  The  importance  of  all  that  has  been  said  depends  upon 
the  certainty  of  the  divine  Inspiration  and  Eevelation  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures.  If  it  is  so  that  a  divine  influence  has  infalli- 
bly directed  the  mind  of  man  in  the  utterance  of  these  writings, 
such  as  we  now  possess  them,  then  they  are,  what  they  claim  to 
be,  the  Word  of  God,  and  their  contents  come  to  us  with  a  divine 
certainty  as  to  the  manner  of  them,  and  a  divine  authority  as  to 
the  matter  of  them.  All  this  is  expressed  by  saying  that  the 
entire  portion  of  them  which  makes  known  what  man  could  not 
naturally  discover  is  Eevealed  ;  and  that  every  part  of  them, 
both  the  naturally  knowable  and  unknowable,  is  just  as  it  is,  be- 
cause the  writers  of  it  all  were  Inspired.  It  is  of  no  consequence 
to  the  present  matter  to  inquire  in  what  particular  manner,  or  in 
how  many  various  ways,  this  divine  influence  was  exerted  upon 
the  writers  of  the  Sacred  Books  ;  the  grand  question  is  as  to  the 


Cn.VP.  XXVIII.]       GOD     MANIFEST     IN     REVELATION.       417 

reality  of  such  an  influence.  That  question  resolves  itself  into  two 
others  ;  first  as  to  the  evidence  for  and  against  the  actual  occur- 
rence, and,  secondly,  as  to  the  possibility  of  the  occurrence.  The 
latter  is  a  question  of  mere  Philosophy,  the  former  is  one  of  mere 
fact.  Of  the  two,  the  question  of  fact  necessarily  controls  the 
rtion  of  Philosophy;  for  that  which  has  never  occurred  in 
fact,  Philosophy  can  only  conjecture  to  be  possible,  while  that 
which  has  occurred  in  fact  controls  Philosophy.  As  to  the  fact 
that  such  a  divine  influence  as  has  been  defined  was  exerted  on 
all  the  writers  of  the  Sacred  Books — this  is  a  question  of  im- 
mense breadth,  filling  the  chief  place  in  the  great  department  of 
Christian  Evidence,  the  discussion  of  which,  according  to  the 
method  I  follow,  stands  at  the  head  of  the  third  or  relative  as- 
pect of  divine  truth,  commonly  called  Polemic  Theology.  I  have 
in  many  instances  throughout  the  preceding  chapters  stated,  in 
an  incidental  manner,  such  considerations  as  seemed  to  me  con- 
clusive, in  support  of  the  fact  of  such  a  divine  influence  ;  and  I 
have  published  a  monograph  demonstrating,  as  I  think,  the 
divine  origin  and  authority  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  upon  the 
basis  of  their  Internal  Evidence.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that 
this  question  of  fact  has  been  debated  from  the  very  dawn  of 
knowledge,  and  has  never  rested,  because,  in  truth,  when  it  is 
given  up  on  either  side,  all  is  given  up.  It  is  as  a  refuge  from 
total  discomfiture,  therefore,  that  they  who  controvert  the  fact 
of  divine  Revelation  and  divine  Inspiration  take  shelter  under 
the  denial  of  the  possibility  of  the  fact  proved,  and  seek  for  sup- 
port in  the  abuse  of  Philosophy.  In  this  form  of  the  question 
the  discussion  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  any  value,  either  prac- 
tical or  scientific  ;  because,  on  supposition,  for  example,  that  a 
man  has  been  born  again,  and  that  he  has  in  his  own  soul  the 
satisfying  proof  of  the  fact,  to  what  end  are  any  further  denials 
of  the  possibility  of  regeneration  ?  Or  if  for  any  reason  such  dis- 
cussions are  supposed  to  be  of  any  value,  then,  in  the  actual 
state  of  the  question,  and,  to  say  the  very  least,  with  the  over- 
whelming presumption  that  the  divine  influence  in  question  has 
actually  been  exerted,  and  has  been  attested  throughout  all  gen- 
erations ;  it  lies  on  those  who  deny  the  possibility  of  that  influ- 
ence to  make  good  their  denial  by  a  demonstration  which  shall 
crush  and  overwhelm  the  contrary  belief  of  every  child  of  God,  and 
of  every  speculative  believer  in  him,  since  the  world  began  ;  and 


■118  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

shall  nullify  the  grounds  upon  which  human  nature  itself,  whether 
in  its  state  of  purity,  in  its  fallen  condition,  or  in  its  partial  re- 
covery, has  rendered  its  devout  testimony  to  the  presence  of  its 
Creator.  Whatever  may  he  possible  with  God,  such  an  achieve- 
ment as  this  is  assuredly,  impossible  with  man. 

4.  I  repeat,  it  is  impossible.  For  such  a  conclusion  does  not 
lie  within  the  known  data,  upon  which  any  conceivable  demon- 
stration having  that  result  must  proceed.  Given  such  a  God 
and  such  a  human  nature,  as  are  demonstrated  :  from  the  data, 
it  cannot  follow  that  it  is  impossible  for  God  to  insjjire  man — ■ 
impossible  for  God  to  reveal  unknown  truth  to  man— impossible 
for  God  to  exert  such  an  influence  as  shall  produce  the  Bible  we 
have  in  our  hands.  On  the  contrary  the  directly  opposite  con- 
clusion is  not  only  inevitable,  but  is  directly  involved  in  the 
data.  If  these  data  he  taken  apart  and  considered  separately — 
the  result  is  the  same.  For  upon  supposition  of  such  a  God  as 
that  whose  idea  is  the  great  conception  of  the  Scriptures,  what 
difficulty  can  be  imagined  as  obstructing  him  in  making  known 
to  his  intelligent  creatures,  any  thing  they  are  capable  of  know- 
ing, by  any  method  competent  to  influence  the  nature  he  has 
given  them  ?  The  thing  is  inconceivable.  On  the  other  hand, 
taking  man  as  he  perceives  himself  to  be,  what  is  there  in  his 
nature  which  puts  him  out  of  the  reach  of  any  influence,  men- 
tal, moral  or  physical,  which  his  omnipotent  Creator  may  see  fit 
to  exert  upon  him,  whether  direct  or  indirect,  whether  mediate 
or  immediate,  whether  common  or  miraculous  ?  He  may  well 
be  defied  to  suggest  even  as  a  conjecture — much  less  to  demon- 
strate as  a  fatal  necessity,  any  such  hindrance  to  God. 

5.  In  reality  such  cavils  when  clearly  stated,  have  a  deep 
meaning  beyond  the  emptiness  of  their  pretended  object.  It  is 
not  meant  that  it  is  really  impossible  for  God  to  reveal  himself 
to  man  :  but  that  it  is  improper  in  God  to  reveal  himself  as  he 
has  done.  The  human  soul  turns  away  from  the  account  which 
God  gives  of  himself  and  of  us.  It  is  not  such  an  account  as  our 
fallen  nature  either  expects,  or  desires,  or  willingly  accepts.  In 
our  robust  sinfulness,  we  perceive  no  need  of  the  balm  that  is  in 
Gilead.  It  is  only  after  the  heart  is  touched,  and  the  conscience 
awakened,  and  the  true  light  has  penetrated  the  mind,  that  we 
begin  to  see  that  the  manifestation  which  God  has  made  of  him- 
self in  his  blessed  Word,  is  not  only  infinitely  true,  but  infinitely 


CHAI\  XXVIII.]      GOD    MANIFEST    IN    REVELATION.      419 

fit.  There  is  no  marvel  greater  than  the  continued,  identical, 
conscious  existence  of  our  former  self,  and  of  our  present  self — 
with  that  great  gulf  between  the  two,  on  the  other  side  of  which, 
we  said  of  God  that  his  law  was  foolishness — and  on  this  side  of 
which  we  say  that  we  esteem  every  word  which  has  proceeded 
out  of  his  mouth,  concerning  all  things,  to  be  right ! 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

rOD  MANIFEST  IN"  TIIE  CONSCIOUS  EXISTENCE  OP  MAN:  GOD  THE 
MAKER  AND  RENEWER  OF  THE  HUMAN  SOUL. 

I.  1.  Man.  General  statement  of  his  Being. — 2.  The  Human  Soul.  Its  Creation 
Nature.  Likeness  to  God. — 3.  Method  of  its  consideration  as  a  manifestation  of 
God. — 4.  Unity  and  Permanence  of  human  nature  in  its  essence :  Nature  and 
causes  of  its  boundless  diversity. — 5.  The  Soul's  knowledge  of  itself  and  of  God. 
Insight  of  inspired  men. — G.  Analysis  of  man's  spiritual  nature,  in  its  original 
likeness,  and  present  unlikeness  to  God. — 7.  Sense  of  the  True,  the  Good,  and 
Duty ;  in  a  spirit  made  in  God's  image — but  fallen  from  it. — 8.  Religious  nature 
of  fallen  man:  analytically  and  historically  considered. — 9.  The  Soul  revealed 
and  known  in  the  data  of  consciousness — is  the  created  image  of  God. — II.  1.  Life. 
Creation.  Pirth.  Resurrection  and  Regeneration. — 2.  The  Relation  of  the  image 
of  God  to  the  soul  of  fallen  man  considered  analytically  and  historically. — 3.  Re- 
storation of  that  lost  image.  Nature  and  effects  of  this  great  change. — 4.  Surer 
and  Higher  Knowledge,  both  of  God  and  of  ourselves :  (a.)  As  the  Result  of  the 
Effects  produced  on  the  soul,  by  its  Renewal  in  the  image  of  God :  (b.)  As  the  Re- 
sult of  the  Method,  whereby  the  effects  produced  in  our  regeneration  occur :  (c.) 
As  the  Result  of  the  Agencies  through  which  these  effects  occur  in  the  soul. — 5. 
The  general  Result  stated :  and  shown  to  intensify  every  particular  Result. 

I. — 1.  The  more  complete  our  knowledge  is  of  all  the  works 
of  God,the  deeper  is  the  conviction  with  which  we  can  say  with 
David,  that  our  soul  kuoweth  right  well  that  they  are  marvellous 
works.  And  among  all  these  marvellous  works,  we  may  safely 
adopt  his  emphatic  distinction  of  our  own  being,  "I  am  fearfully 
and  wonderfully  made,"  and  devoutly  confess  with  him  God's 
title  to  our  praise  therefor.1  It  was  a  marvellous  creation  in 
which  our  being  commenced  ;  a  fearful  aspect  of  it  that  it  bore 
the  image  of  God  himself:  a  being,  very  wonderful  in  its  sepa- 
rate parts  ;  still  more  wonderful  in  the  personal  existence  consti- 
tuted out  of  those  united  parts.  This  crowning  marvel  of  the 
works  of  God,  fearful  and  wonderful,  is  revealed  to  us  in  the 
Bacred  Scriptures  as  existing  under  four  successive  and  widely 

Ps.  exxxix.  19. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]         GOD    MANIFEST     IN    THE    SOUL.  421 

different  estate?,  through  all  of  which  it  preserves  the  same 
nature,  no  matter  how  deeply  modified  ;  through  all  of  which  it 
hears  one  identical,  continued,  self-conscious,  separate  existence. 
Its  first  estate  was  perfect  hut  fallible  :  its  second  estate  is  one 
of  lapse  and  depravity,  the  original  perfection  gone,  the  original 
fallibility  passed  over  into  sin  and  misery :  its  third  estate  is  one 
of  regeneration,  and  great,  but  not  complete  recovery,  its  nature 
renewed,  the  soul  not  perfectly  sanctified  still  dwelling  in  a  body 
corrupt  and  perishing  :  its  fourth  estate  will  he  one  of  complete 
restoration,  and  of  endless  glory  and  blessedness,  commencing 
with  the  soul  at  the  death  of  the  body,  augmented  as  to  the  soul 
and  commenced  as  to  the  body  at  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
and  consummated  as  to  both  united,  throughout  eternity.  Only 
the  first  parents  of  the  race  ever  occupied  the  first  estate  ;  and 
by  transgression  they  lost  it.  It  is  only  the  second  estate  that 
is  absolutely  universal  to  the  Avhole  race  descending  from  our 
first  parents  by  ordinary  generation.  The  third  and  fourth  es- 
tates are  peculiar  to  the  redeemed  of  God,  who  constitute  the 
New  Creation.  It  is  seen  at  once  therefore,  how  the  eternal  love 
of  the  Father  ;  the  whole  work  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Spirit ;  the 
whole  power  of  divine  truth  ;  in  one  word,  how  the  whole  power 
of  God  unto  salvation,  and  our  whole  knowledge  of  God  thereunto, 
enter  as  controlling  elements  into  the  nature  and  end  of  the  re- 
storation of  man,  and  of  the  immortality  of  glory  and  blessedness 
secured  to  him  therein.  It  will  be  seen  also,  that  our  present 
inquiry  has  only  an  indirect  relation  to  the  fearful  destiny  of  the 
impenitent  ;  since  they  pass  out  of  the  range  of  a  manifestation 
of  God  in  the  creation  and  renewal  of  the  human  soul,  as  soon  as 
the  second  part  of  that  manifestation,  namely,  in  their  renewal, 
becomes  for  them  an  eternal,  impossibility. 

2.  The  creation  of  the  soul  of  man  was  perfectly  distinct 
from  the  creation  of  his  body.  For  God  formed  man  from 
the  dust  of  the  ground,  but  he  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul.1  In  two  in- 
stances since  the  creation  of  Adam,  the  human  body  has 
been  produced  after  a  supernatural  manner :  the  instance  of 
Eve,  who  was  formed  by  God  out  of  the  rib  of  Adam,2  and  the 
instance  of  Jesus,  who  was  formed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the 
womb  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  out  of  the  substance  of  her  body.3 

1  On.,  ii.  7.  *  Gen.,  ii.  21-23.  8  Luke,  i.  31-35 


422  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

Every  other  human  body  lias,  like  every  thing  else  having  life, 
whether  animal  or  vegetable,  been  the  result  of  a  reproductive 
process  peculiar  to  itself;  while  every  human  soul  has  been  cre- 
ated by  God,  and  not  produced  from  other  souls.1  Separately,  as 
well  as  differently  created,  and  in  its  essence  wholly  different 
from  the  essence  of  the  body,  the  soul  is  so  far  from  being  the 
result  of  any  physical  organism,  that  there  does  not  exist  a 
single  quality  common  to  it  and  to  matter,  with  which  it  is  so 
closely  and  wonderfully  connected.  Its  new  creation  does  not 
affect  the  natural  depravity  of  the  body  in  which  it  dwells  ;  can- 
not prevent  its  decay  and  death  ;  and  is  no  part  of  the  efficient 
cause  of  its  resurrection.  And  to  crown  all,  the  death  of  the 
body  which  reduces  it  to  the  dust  from  which  it  was  formed,  so 
far  from  damaging  the  soul,  releases  it,  that  it  may  return  to 
God  who  gave  it ;  with  whom  it  dwells  in  this  separate  state 
until  the  resurrection  of  the  body  fits  it  for  its  eternal  habitation; 
the  whole  of  which  has  been  largely  explained  in  another  place. 
It  is  emphatically  of  the  soul  of  man,  and  with  no  conceivable 
reference  to  his  body  considered  of  itself,  that  the  Scriptures  de- 
clare that  God  created  man  in  his  own  image  and  after  his  like- 
ness.2 As  a  spirit,  he  is  the  image  and  after  the  likeness  of  the 
infinite  Spirit ;  and  then  as  it  is  successively  added  that  he  is  a 
living  soul ;  that  he  is  endowed  with  intelligence,  with  will  and 
with  power  ;  that  he  is  invested  with  a  distinct  personality  and 
with  dominion  over  all  things  around  him  ;  that  he  is  by  his  very 
essence  naturally  a  knowing  and  a  free  spirit,  sustaining  to  truth 
ail  the  relations  involved  in  these  qualities  ;  we  acquire  at  every 
step  a  more  complete  conception,  how  it  is  that  man  with  all 
these  qualities  is  by  creation  in  the  image  and  after  the  likeness 
of  the  adorable  God,  with  his  transcendent  attributes.  I  would 
avoid  all  that  is  illusive  ;  yet  I  cannot  escape  the  suspicion  that 
the  unity  of  the  human  race,  with  the  distinct  personal  existence 
of  every  member  of  it — a  type  of  existence  so  different  from  that 
of  all  other  created  spirits  of  which  we  have  any  idea,  and  so 
much  nigher  to  the  type  of  God's  own  being  ;  may  have  much 
to  do  with  God's  declaration,  peculiar  to  our  race,  that  it  was 
created  in  his  image  and  after  his  likeness.  At  any  rate,  the  un- 
questionable state  of  the  matter  as  revealed  to  us  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, is  hardly  so  much  as  paraphrased,  when  it  is  said  that 
1  Job,  xxxiii.  4;  Acts,  xvii.  25 ;  Eccl.,  xil  1.  a  Gen.,  i.  2G-28. 


CUAr.  XXIX.]      GOD    MANIFEST    IN    THE    SOUL.  423 

God,  considered  as  the  creator  of  the  human  soul  in  his  own 
image,  is  manifested  to  man  in  his  own  conscious  existence. 

3.  In  this  final  instance  of  the  manifestation  of  God  to  our 
intelligence,  I  have  alrealy  said  repeatedly,  that  we  find  the  sec- 
ond example — the  sacred  Scriptures  being  the  first — of  the 
combination  both  of  the  natural  and  the  supernatural  method 
of  the  divine  manifestation.  Considering  the  human  soul  both 
as  created  and  as  recreated  in  the  image  of  God,  the  method  is 
supernatural :  considering  it  as  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  it- 
self, and  by  that  means  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  its  Creator 
and  its  Redeemer  in  whose  image  and  likeness  it  is,  the  method  is 
natural.  It  is  true  that  the  distinct  knowledge  that  we  are  ere- 
ated  and  recreated  in  the  image  of  God,  is  supernaturally  revealed 
to  us  :  but  I  do  not  see  that  it  would  be  possible  for  the  human 
soul  to  know  enough  of  itself  to  be  settled  in  the  conviction  of 
its  own  separate  existence,  without  immediately  accepting  the 
existence  of  God.  Instances  have  existed  of  men  who  believed  in 
a  certain  sense  that  there  wras  a  God,  and  yet  denied  the  separate 
existence  of  their  own  souls  :  but  the  reverse  seems  to  be  so  en- 
tirely inconsistent  with  the  fundamental  laws  of  our  nature,  that 
it  is  impossible  to  believe,  and  no  one  ever  did  or  can  believe,  in 
the  separate  and  immortal  existence  of  his  own  soul,  and  at  the 
same  time  not  believe  in  the  existence  of  an  immortal  God,  dis- 
tinct from  the  universe,  and  of  whom  that  soul  was  an  image. 
And  beyond  a  doubt  no  one  ever  believed  assuredly  in  the  regen- 
eration of  his  soul,  who  did  not  believe  assuredly  in  a  divine  Re- 
deemer. No  higher  evidence  could  be  sought,  that  God  is 
manifest  in  the  conscious  existence  of  man,  as  the  Creator  and 
Rcncwer  of  the  human  soul  in  his  own  image. 

4.  The  fundamental  identity  of  nature  in  all  the  individuals 
of  the  human  race,  exists  under  a  perpetual  diversity  of  all  the 
persons  of  the  race  one  from  another.  That  boundless  diversity 
exists  in  every  physical  endowment,  taken  separately,  and  in  the 
result  of  all  united  in  one  body  ;  it  exists  in  every  endowment 
of  the  soul  taken  separately  and  in  the  result  of  the  whole  united 
in  one  soul ;  it  exists  in  the  person  made  up  of  the  union  of  the 
soul  and  body — all  their  physical  and  mental  endowments — as 
compared  with  every  other  person.  Yet  all  these  persons  are 
identical  in  nature,  identical  in  the  quality,  the  essence  of  all 
their  forces  summed  up,  no  matter  how  immense  may  be  the 


424  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

separate  or  combined  diversities  already  indicated.  We  habit- 
ually contemplate  each  other  as  persons  merely  ;  and  struck  with 
the  constant  dissimilitudes  which  we  observe,  are  prone  to  over- 
look the  resources  of  nature,  in  the  elements  just  pointed  out, 
for  the  preservation  of  her  steadfast  unity,  under  the  production 
of  the  most  boundless  variety.  The  influence  of  our  souls  and 
bodies  upon  each  other  mutually,  working  out  from  a  new  quar- 
ter those  perpetual  differences  in  the  original  endowments  of 
both  ;  and  then  again  the  influence  of  external  causes  upon 
both  soul  and  body  ;  carry  still  higher  the  aspect  of  the  mani- 
fold forces  to  which  our  common  nature  is  subjected  in  its  mani- 
fold development.  We  can  easily  see,  how  high,  on  one  side, 
such  a  nature  was  fitted  to  rise  ;  how  low,  on  the  other  side,  it 
may  be  sunk  ;  while  the  oneness  of  its  essence  is  still  preserved. 
But  to  render  possible  such  results  as  I  have  sought  to  explain, 
and  as  we  behold  every  moment  of  our  lives,  we  must  accept  as 
true,  a  human  nature  real  and  permanent,  with  faculties  original, 
distinct  and  permanent.  Therein  again,  we  have  a  shadow  of 
the  infinite  nature  with  its  infinite  perfections  ;  an  image,  dim  at 
first — broken  and  defaced  now — but  still  an  image  of  God,  and 
capable  of  a  divine  restoration.  There  is  but  one  God,  and  there 
is  no  other  God  with  whom  he  can  be  compared  ;  moreover,  the 
living  God  is  infinitely  perfect  ;  in  him,  therefore,  but  one  type 
is  conceivable.  The  same  thing  would  be  strictly  true  in  a  lower 
degree  of  human  nature,  if  there  had  been  but  one  man,  and  he 
had  existed  in  but  one  estate.  It  is  still  true  of  human  nature 
considered  in  its  essence,  and  considering  that  essence  as  capable 
of  preserving  its  identity  through  four  estates,  as  before  pointed 
out.  It  is  the  human  soul  contemplated  in  its  second  or  lapsed 
estate,  and  contemplated  in  its  third  or  renewed  estate,  which 
to  us,  now,  is  the  subject  of  conscious  existence  ;  as  an  image 
more  indistinct  in  the  former,  and  more  distinct  in  the  latter  es- 
tate, but  in  both  an  image,  and  so  a  manifestation  of  God  to 
our  intelligence.  The  whole  of  this  human  nature,  considered, 
not  in  its  wondrous  diversities,  but  in  its  fundamental  oneness  ; 
and  considered  in  its  spiritual,  and  not  in  its  material  element ; 
this  is  the  subject  of  our  present  scrutiny. 

5.  The  knowledge  of  ourselves  is  the  only  knowledge,  except 
the  knowledge  of  God,  that  is  of  eternal  importance  to  us  ;  and 
these  two  knowledges  are  so  dependent  on   each  other,   that 


CHAP.  XXIX.J       GOD     MANIFEST     IN     Til  E    SOUL.  425 

neither  is  attainable,  in  any  true  sense,  without  the  other.  The 
wise,  (.Yen  among  the  heathen,  have  placed  the  wisdom  of  self- 
knowledge  at  the  head  of  all  human  wisdom  ;  and  the  sacred 
Scriptures  press  us  with  the  greatest  earnestness,  to  endeavor 
habitually  after  this  knowledge  ;  and  that  in  direct  connection  with 
our  endeavors  after  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  after  conformity 
to  him  as  known.1  Nor  is  any  thing  more  remarkable  in  the 
Scriptures,  than  their  unerring  insight  into  the  very  depths  of 
the  human  soul.  Our  conduct,  our  motives,  our  principles,  our 
beliefs  ;  given,  either  of  the  four,  and  the  Scriptures  will  produce 
out  of  the  secret  chambers  of  the  Spirit  the  other  three,  with  in- 
fallible exactness.  That  which  we  painfully  conjecture  of  others, 
that  which  we  obscurely  see  in  ourselves,  men  who  lived  thou- 
sands of  years  before  we  were  born,  will  tell  us  clearly  and  un- 
erringly, as  a  matter  palpable  in  itself,  and  obvious  to  them, 
throughout  the  interminable  changes  of  the  four  quantities. 
And  the  moment  the  result  is  stated,  our  eyes  are  opened  ;  for 
a  two-edged  sword  has  passed  through  the  joints  and  marrow 
of  our  being — a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the 
heart."  Nor  do  they  urge  with  greater  earnestness  the  duty  of 
keeping  our  heart,  out  of  which  are  the  issues  of  life,3  than  they 
explain  with  all  distinctness,  the  real  nature  of  the  difficulty  of 
so  doing.4  Desperately  wicked,  who  can  fathom  its  depths  ;  de- 
ceitful above  all  things,  who  can  know  it  ?  The  fallen  soul, 
easiest  of  all  things  to  be  led  astray  ;  sin,  the  surest  of  all  things 
to  lead  astray  ;  and  the  very  state  of  the  soul,  first  subjected  to 
our  scrutiny,,  a  state  of  sin  ;  and  its  only  remaining  state  known 
to  us  consciously,  a  state  of  but  partial  deliverance  !  We  need 
not  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  true  knowledge  of  the  soul,  is  so 
difficult  of  attainment  by  the  carnal  mind  ;  nor  that  the  progress 
of  Philosophy  has  been  so  slow  in  developing  a  nature  of  whose 
fundamental  conditions  as  being  an  image  of  God,  and  as  being 
depraved,  it  took  no  account.  Yet  we  must  not  suppose  that 
such  vital  knowledge  is  unattainable,  or  that  it  is  not  a  proper 
object  of  true  Philosophy. 

6.  God  is  a  spirit  ;  the  soul  of  man,  made  in  the  image  of 
God,  is  also  a  spirit.  Understanding,  Will,  and  Power,  infinite 
like  his  being  as  an  infinite  spirit,  appertain  to  God  as  attributes  ; 
they  appertain  also  to  man  as  faculties,  finite  like  his  being  as  a 

'1  Cor.,  xi.  28;  2  Cor.,  xiiL  5.         *  Hob.,  iv.  12.         s  Trov.,  iv.  23.         *  Jer.,  xvil  9. 


426  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD..  [BOOK    IV. 

finite  spirit,  and  now  depraved  with  his  fallen  nature.  The  pos- 
session of  those  Perfections  by  God,  necessarily  involves  the  At- 
tributes of  infinite  Knowledge  and  Wisdom  ;  the  possession  of 
those  corresponding  Faculties  in  a  finite  manner  by  man,  just  as 
necessarily  involves  that  he  should  be  a  being  knowing  and  wise, 
in  direct  proportion  to  those  finite  Faculties  in  a  fallen  nature. 
But  these  infinite  Perfections  of  Knowledge  and  Wisdom  in  God, 
and  the  corresponding  finite  endowments  in  man,  have  relevancy 
on  the  one  hand  to  the  eternal  and  ineffaceable  distinction  be- 
tween the  True  and  the  False,  as  really  as  they  have  relevancy, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  the  Infinite  Understanding  of  God  and  the 
finite  understanding  of  man.  And  while  the  ability  to  perceive 
this  distinction  of  True  and  False,  incontestably  proves  that  man 
has  an  understanding,  and  his  having  an  understanding  incontest- 
ably proves  that  he  is  a  spirit  :  on  the  other  hand,  his  inability 
to  apply  that  distinction  justly  and  exactly,  and  his  proneuess 
to  err  in  its  application,  just  as  incontestably  proves  that  his  ca- 
pacity of  Knowledge  and  Wisdom,  and  therefore  his  understand- 
ing, and  therefore  his  spirit,  are  all  depraved  together.  Passing 
to  the  moral  nature  of  God,  and  to  such  infinite  Perfections  as 
Love,  attended  by  Goodness  and  Mercy,  and  ordered  in  Justice 
and  Long-suffering,  we  readily  see  the  connection  of  all  such 
affections  with  the  divine  Will :  and  as  we  contemplate  in  man's 
moral  nature  the  image  of  this  moral  nature  of  God,  we  perceive 
the  same  connections  of  these  qualities  with  each  other,  and  with 
his  Will.  We  perceive  also,  that  all  such  Attributes  in  God  and 
such  affections  in  man,  are  not  merely  related  to  the  Under- 
standing ;  but  have  a  further  quality  which  we  call  moral,  by 
which  they  hfwe  relevancy  to  the  eternal  and  ineffaceable  distinc- 
tion between  the  Good  and  the  Evil ,'  a  distinction  carrying  the 
previous  distinction  between  the  True  and  the  False  to  a  higher 
pitch,  but  never  justly  occurring  independently  of  it.  And, 
therefore,  it  may  be  said  precisely  as  it  was  before,  that  the  un- 
truth of  all  these  affections,  as  really  as  the  untruth  of  our  knowl- 
edge, attests  the  depravity  of  our  understanding,  and  so  of  our 
spirit  ;  while,  still  further,  the  ability  to  perceive  the  distinction 
of  Good  and  Evil  incontestably  proves  that  we  have  a  moral  na- 
ture, and  so  a  Will,  and  so  are  spirits  ;  and  then  the  inability  to 
apply  this  distinction  justly  and  exactly,  and  the  constant  prone- 
ness  to  err  in  applying  it,  proves  just  as  incontestably  that  oui 


CHAP.  XXIX.]       GOD     MANIFEST     IN     THE     SOUL.  427 

affections,  and  therefore  our  moral  nature,  and  therefore  our  will, 
and  therefore  our  spirit,  is  depraved.  And  thus  by  a  double 
process,  on  the  one  side  through  our  rational  nature,  and  on  the 
other  side  through  our  moral  nature,  we  arrive  at  the  same  re- 
sults asserted  by  God,  namely,  that  we  arc  spirits  created  in  his 
image,  but  that  at  present  we  are  depraved  spirits,  having  his 
image  defaced  but  not  destroyed  in  us. 

7.  The  idea  of  duty  is  connected  inseparably  with  the  idea 
both  of  the  True  and  the  Good.  Every  duty  rests  on  some  ulti- 
mate truth,  and  tends  to  some  ultimate  good.  In  their  founda- 
tions, our  rational  and  moral  nature  are  but  different  aspects  of 
the  same  spirit  ;  and  in  their  results,  the  True  and  the  Good  co- 
alesce in  Duty.  Just  as  in  God,  "when  we  speak  of  his  Attributes, 
it  is  himself  we  mean  ;  and  when  we  speak  of  his  acts  as  being 
acts  of  Justice,  of  Love,  of  Power,  of  Vengeance,  and  so  on,  it  is 
still  God  who  performs  them  all.  There  is,  nevertheless,  a  wide 
difference  in  the  influence  upon  us,  of  truth  considered  merely  of 
itself,  and  of  truth  considered  with  the  further  qualification  that 
it  is  good  ;  a  wide  difference  between  the  mere  assent  of  the  under- 
standing to  the  True,  and  the  consent  of  the  conscience  to  the  Good; 
a  wide  difference  between  the  perception  of  the  understanding  of 
the  merely  False,  and  the  perception  of  the  conscience  of  the  Evil. 
The  sense  of  duty  performed,  or  of  duty  violated,  personally  by 
ourselves,  is  the  highest  concrete  effect  of  the  True  and  Good 
united,  or  of  the  False  and  the  Evil  united.  The  sense  of  satis- 
faction and  of  approbation  which  a  good  conscience  diffuses 
through  the  soul,  is  a  shadow  of  the  fruition  which  God  derives 
from  the  perpetual  intuition  of  himself:  and  the  sense  of  blame- 
worthiness which  attends  every  serious  intuition  of  ourselves, 
until  the  conscience  is  seared,  is  the  testimony  of  the  soul  itself 
to  its  own  depraved  estate.  It  is  God  himself  who  is  the  source 
of  all  the  True  and  all  the  Good.  So  absolute  is  this,  that  we 
have  no  means  of  laying  a  positive  foundation  for  either  the 
True  or  the  Good,  except  we  lay  it  in  God  ;  nor  of  laying  any 
foundation  at  all  besides  him,  except  we  lay  it  in  our  own  souls; 
and  in  the  latter  case  we  are  conscious  of  innumerable  errors, 
and  never  perfectly  assured  of  security  from  mistake.  Rela- 
tively to  us,  so  completely  is  God  the  sum  of  all  the  True  and 
all  the  Good,  that  even  when  we  err  as  to  both,  we  make  God 
himself  the  objective  form  of  the  very  error,  and  deify  lapine, 


428  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV . 

lust,  deceit,  or  whatever,  most  grossly  evil  or  absurdly  false,  we 
happen  to  suppose  to  be  the  perfection  of  the  True  and  the 
Good.  Thou  thoughtest,  says  God,  that  I  was  altogether  such  an 
one  as  thyself.1  The  reflex  of  God's  relations  to  us  as  the  Crea- 
tor, Euler,  and  Judge  of  men,  is  found  in  that  sense  of  depend- 
ence and  accountability  which  is  universal  in  man.  Considered 
as  the  response  of  a  created  and  responsible  spirit,  passing  through 
a  probationary  into  a  retributive  state,  this  is  a  most  distinct  tes- 
timony to  God  :  but  if  there  is  no  God,  or  if  he  is  different  from 
what  he  is  revealed  to  be,  it  is  one  of  those  inscrutable  mysteries 
which  thicken  at  every  step  of  our  departure  from  the  true  light. 
And  I  may  add,  as  not  less  striking,  that  in  the  midst  of  our 
acutest  sense  of  blame-worthiness,  we  cannot  escape  a  profound 
but  obscure  sense,  that  this  was  not  our  original  condition,  and 
that  there  remains  in  us  a  susceptibility  of  some  kind,  to  be  bet- 
ter off  again  ;  while  in  the  midst  of  our  deepest  convictions  that 
we  are  helpless  in  our  dependence,  and  that  we  must  sink  under 
the  responsibility  which  awaits  us,  we  find  it  impossible  to  ex- 
tinguish a  perennial  hope  that  deliverance  will  come.  These 
states  of  the  soul  are  precisely  what  is  inevitable,  if  the  soul  be  a 
spirit,  created  in  the  image  of  God,  fallen  from  that  image  and 
now  depraved,  but  subject  to  and  awaiting  a  new  creation  ;  and 
the  existence  of  such  states  of  the  soul,  is  the  most  distinct  con- 
firmation of  the  revealed  facts  which  account  for  them  ;  and  the 
confirmation  becomes  overwhelming  when  the  revealed  facts 
which  make  every  thing  clear,  are  beyond  the  reach  of  natural 
knowledge,  and  when  no  facts  within  the  reach  of  natural  knowl- 
edge, afford  any  solution  at  all. 

8.  Our  rational  nature  grounds  itself,  therefore,  upon  that 
ineffaceable  distinction  of  the  True  and  the  False  ;  and  where- 
cver  that  distinction  can  exist,  it  can  expatiate,  and  knowledge 
is  certain  and  attainable.  Our  moral  nature  grounds  itself 
upon  that  further  and  ineffaceable  distinction  of  the  Good  aud  the 
Evil  ;  and  wherever  that  distinction  can  exist  it  can  expatiate, 
and  moral  culture  is  real,  and  moral  advancement  attainable. 
The  idea  of  Power  in  the  spirit  of  man,  as  in  God,  is  indis- 
solubly  connected  with  the  understanding  and  the  will ;  and  in 
its  nature  is  expressly  limited  by  them.  Its  resources  are  all 
furnished  by  them,  or  are  such  as  are  also  resources  to  them.    As 

1  Psalm  1.  21. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]       GOD    MANIFEST    IN     THE     SOUL.  429 

God  is  the  sum  of  all  the  True  and  all  the  Good  ;  so  in  us  the 
spirit  whose  very  nature  is  fundamentally  relevant  to  the  True 
and  the  Good,  would  have  goue  forth  toward  God  with  its  whole 
rower,  as  its  habitual  action.  This  is  the  knowledge,  the  service 
and  the  enjoyment  of  God  ;  this  is  true  Religion  ;  this  is  the 
posture  of  the  case  as  man  was  created.  In  his  fallen  state, 
every  human  element  of  the  problem  is  changed  ;  hut  no  cle- 
ment is  destroyed,  and  all  of  them  are  capable  of  restoration. 
Man  is  still  impelled  toward  God  ;  is  still,  by  nature,  as  inevi- 
tably religious  as  he  is  rational,  or  moral,  or  invested  with 
spiritual  power.  His  spirit  is  depraved  ;  by  consequence  his 
understanding,  his  will,  his  spiritual  power  are  depraved  also. 
Whatever  we  can  mean  by  his  religious  nature  and  its  results, 
are  therefore  depraved.  But  there  is,  nevertheless,  a  religious 
nature  still ;  and  there  is  a  sum  and  there  are  results  thereof. 
Of  all  the  aspects  of  man,  the  most  universal  and  the  most  pro- 
foundly affecting,  are  his  unremitted  struggles  toward  God,  and 
his  frightful  and  continual  failure  in  his  attempts.  His  endeav- 
ors have  been  not  only  real,  but  anxious  and  incessant ;  and  his 
methods,  dreadful  as  in  many  respects  they  have  all  been,  were 
not  without  a  certain  mixture  of  truth,  and  even  of  an  approach 
toward  goodness.  At  any  rate  he  did  not  select  them  as  evil  and 
false,  but  as  true  and  good.  But  they  were  the  endeavors  and 
methods  of  a  fallen  nature  ;  of  a  nature  which  could  not  rest 
without  God,  and  yet  which  could  not  find  God ;  which  saw  that 
there  were  such  things  as  truth  and  goodness,  but  could  not  dis- 
tinguish which  they  were  ;  which  mistook  the  false  for  the  true, 
and  chose  the  evil  before  the  good;  which  made  its  misery  deeper 
and  its  sin  more  vile,  by  the  cruel  and  impure  means  its  very 
sense  of  both,  led  it  to  adopt ;  which  outraged  and  dishonored 
God,  even  when  it  blindly  sought  his  favor.  Yet  always,  it  re- 
tained the  idea  of  God,  and  confessed  there  was  a  God  ;  always 
it  acknowledged  itself  to  be  sinful ;  always  it  desired  reconcilia- 
tion with  God;  always  it  sought  this  through  expiatory  sacrifice; 
always  it  expected  it  through  a  delivererer  who  should  exhibit 
some  union  of  God  with  man,  and  who  should  prove  victorious 
over  death  !  Wonderful,  fearful,  is  this  fallen  nature  of  man  ; 
wonderfully  pitiable ;  fearfully  guilty  !  A  wreck  now,  it  once 
dimly  bore  God's  perfect  image.     But  even  while  under  God's 


430  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

curse,  it  has  God's  promise  of  deliverance  ;  and  by  a  new  crea- 
tion, it  can  be,  and  is  restored  to  his  lost  image. 

9.  In  so  far  as  we  are  capable  of  knowing  any  thing  at  all, 
Ave  are  capable  of  knowing  what  passes  within  us  ;  and  in  so  far 
as  we  can  obtain  assurance  that  we  do  know  any  thing,  we  can 
obtain  assurance  that  we  do  know  this.  The  spirit  of  man,  is  an 
existence,  not  a  phantom  or  an  idea  ;  a  living,  a  knowing,  a 
thinking,  a  loving,  a  real  existence.  To  deny  to  such  a  being 
the  primary  elements  of  its  own  cognitions  ;  to  call  in  question 
those  ultimate  facts  of  which  our  consciousness  assures  us  ;  is  to 
deprive  us  of  the  fundamental  criteria  of  truth  itself,  and  make 
a  nature  whose  grand  distinction  is  that  it  thinks,  and  feels,  and 
knows,  the  mere  sport  of  every  delusion.  It  is  indeed,  far  more 
than  this  ;  for  it  is  to  make  the  infinite  author  of  our  being  the 
author  of  our  delusions,  by  creating  us  with  intelligence  only  in 
order  that  we  may  be  deceived  by  untruthful  reports  of  our  own 
soul,  which  we  are  incapable  of  disbelieving.  To  deny  that  we 
are  conscious  of  what  we  are  conscious,  is  equivalent  to  denying 
— the  facts  of  consciousness  itself.  To  deny  the  truth  of  the 
facts  which  consciousness  reports  to  us,  is  to  deny  the  possibility 
of  Philosophy,  whose  very  office  it  is  to  construe  those  truths  ;  to 
subvert  the  possibility  of  knowledge,  which  rests  upon  the  verity 
of  those  truths  ;  and  to  annihilate  the  possibility  of  belief,  whose 
first  and  chief  nourishment  is  in  those  truths.  Admitting,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  the  existence  of  the  facts  of  consciousness,  as 
phenomena,  is  just  as  certain  as  the  existence  of  the  soul  itself, 
whose  existence  their  existence  certifies  ;  and  admitting  that  the 
veracity  of  consciousness  is  just  as  certain  in  what  it  reports,  as 
in  the  fact  that  it  reports  at  all  :  then  our  feet  are  set  upon  a 
rock.  Then  philosophy  may  return  from  her  endless  wanderings, 
to  her  perennial  rest :  Knowledge  may  commence  afresh  her  sub- 
lime career  :  and  belief  may  repose  in  tranquil  confidence  upon 
truth,  which  even  the  desperate  deceitfulness  of  our  depraved 
hearts,  and  the  desperate  deceivableness  of  sin,  cannot  shake. 
God  in  his  infinite  knowledge  of  all  things,  has  a  perfect  cogni- 
zance and  intuition  of  himself.  Man  in  his  finite  knowledge  of 
all  things,  has  an  imperfect  cognition  and  intuition  of  himself. 
But  this  is  the  nearest,  the  surest,  and  the  most  satisfying 
knowledge  naturally  attainable  by  man.  And  when  the  soul 
itself  is  renewed  in  knowledge  and  in  rectitude,  the  image  of 


CHAP.  XXIX.]      GOD    MANIFEST    IN    THE    SOUL.  431 

God,  dim  and  defaced  in  all  things,  and  utterly  lost  in  true  holi- 
ness, is  itself  restored  at  the  same  moment  :  made  more  capable 
of  being  discerned,  while  we  are  made  more  capable  of  discerning 
it.  Our  most  certain  means  of  knowledge,  are  the  means  ot 
knowing  somewhat  of  our  own  souls  ;  for  our  consciousness  is  the 
most  intimate  assurance  we  can  possess  of  any  thing.  The 
knowledge  we  thus  obtain  is  the  most  certain  of  all  knowledge  ; 
for  the  least  doubt  thrown  over  the  certainty  of  that  by  which 
every  thing  else  is  known,  casts  every  thing  else  into  a  still  deeper 
uncertainty.  But  when  we  come  to  the  knowledge  of  ourselves, 
Ave  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  image  of  God.  And  this  whole 
analysis,  conducted  under  the  testimony  of  consciousness,  runs 
side  by  side  with  the  previous  analysis  of  the  nature  of  God,  con- 
ducted under  the  light  of  revelation  ;  as  that  divine  nature  is 
exhibited  under  such  Attributes  as  can  be  reflected  in  the  human 
soul  ;  especially  such  as  distinctly  appertain  to  what  we  may  call 
the  spiritual,  the  rational,  and  the  moral  nature  of  God.  As  the 
Creator  of  the  human  soul,  therefore,  God  is  manifest  in  the  self- 
conscious  existence  of  that  soul,  which  is  an  image  of  himself. 

II. — 1.  There  are  four  ways,  widely  different  from  each  other, 
by  which  that  inscrutable  gift  which  we  call  life  is  bestowed  on 
man.  The  first  of  these  is  creation,  in  which  the  race  itself  com- 
menced :  the  second  is  birth,  according  to  a  peculiar  reproduc- 
tive process,  wherein  each  individual  existence  commences  :  the 
third  is  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  which  follows  and  conquers 
death  :  the  fourth  is  the  one  we  are  now  to  speak  of,  that  renewal 
of  the  soul  by  means  of  which  the  life  of  the  second  Adam,  who 
was  a  quickening  spirit,  supplants  in  it,  the  life  of  the  first  Adam, 
who  was  but  a  living  soul.1  Concerning  this  last  way  of  commu- 
nicating a  real  life  to  man,  the  most  obvious  thing  is,  that  it  is 
continually  explained  to  us  in  the  word  of  God,  by  calling  our 
attention  to  all  three  of  the  other  ways  in  which  life  is  given  to 
us,  and  by  constantly  applying  to  it  the  names  of  all  of  them. 
It  is  expressly  and  repeatedly  declared  that  the  new  man  is  cre- 
ated ;  and  the  anak>gy  to  the  original  creation  is  made  more 
complete,  by  declaring  that  this  is  done  in  Christ  Jesus,  after  the 
image  of  God,  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  The  divine  Saviour,  in  mak- 
ing the  whole  matter  of  this  great  change  in  man  plain  to  Nic- 
odemus,  in  private  and  express  instruction  concerning  it  ;  holds 
1  1  Cor.,  xv.  45.  ■  Eph.,  iL  10,  iv.  23.  24 ;  Col.,  ill.  10. 


432  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

his  discourse  steadily  to  the  point,  that  it  is  a  second  birth, 
spiritual  indeed,  and  from  above,  but  yet  real  not  only,  but  the 
first,  the  simplest  and  the  most  indispensable  part  of  the  new 
life.1  That  it  may  be  most  distinctly  explained  as  a  resurrection, 
we  are  repeatedly  told  not  only  that  we  were  children  of  wrath, 
but  that  we  were  dead  in  sins,  and  that  God,  who  is  rich  in 
mercy,  and  for  his  great  love  wherewith  he  loved  us,  quickened 
us  together  with  Christ,  and  hath  raised  us  up  together,  and 
made  us  sit  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus.2  And 
when  the  method  of  this  new  creation,  second-birth,  quickening 
from  spiritual  death,  is  set  before  us  in  the  distinct  efficiency  that 
produces  it ;  we  are  plainly  and  repeatedly  told  that  it  is  accord- 
ing to  the  working  of  the  mighty  power  of  God  :  and  as  if  to 
render  mistake  impossible,  it  is  added  that  it  is  the  same  which 
wrought  in  Christ,  when  God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  set 
him  at  his  own  right  hand  in  heaven.5  The  great  risk  we  run  is 
that  of  understating,  and  not  that  of  overstating  the  work  of  God 
in  the  renewal  of  the  soul  of  man  ;  and  the  consequent  danger  is 
of  obscuring  too  much,  and  not  of  exhibiting  too  broadly,  the 
manifestation  of  God  in  that  renewed  soul,  and  so  in  the  con- 
scious existence  of  man. 

2.  We  are  to  comprehend  distinctly  this  great  matter,  both 
as  it  is  revealed  to  us  by  God  and  as  it  is  manifested  in  our 
own  consciousness.  So  far  as  the  essence  of  our  being  is  con- 
cerned, we  are  still  spirits,  and  are  still  endowed  with  the  same 
nature,  and  with  all  the  faculties  we  had  at  first,  and  will  have 
forever  ;  and  in  all  these,  and  in  innumerable  particulars  apper- 
taining to  them,  many  of  which  have  been  pointed  out,  what  is 
meant  by  saying,  we  have  lost  the  image  of  God,  is  not  that  any 
of  them  are  destroyed,  but  that  all  of  them  are  polluted,  de- 
praved, and  corrupted.  This  latter  is  true  of  the  very  essence  of 
the  soul,  and  of  the  very  essence  of  the  body  also  ;  and  by  conse- 
quence of  all  the  faculties  of  the  former,  and  of  all  the  parts  of  the 
latter.  It  is  most  signally  true  of  all  that  touches  our  ability  to 
distinguish  truth  and  to  pursue  it,  and  to  discover  falsehood  and 
to  shun  it ;  and  of  all  that  touches  our  ability  to  discover  the 
good  and  to  choose  it,  and  to  perceive  the  evil  and  to  hate  it. 
As  God  is  the  sum  of  all  perfection,  whether  considered  in  the 
light  of  the  true  or  the  good,  what  I  have  just  said  amounts 

1  John,  iii.  1-13.  "■  Eph.,  ii.  3-6. ;  Col.,  ii.  12-13.  '  Eph.,  L  19,  20. 


CnAP.  XXIX.]      GOD    MANIFEST    IX    THE    SOUL.  433 

to  tliis,  namely,  that  we  are  no  longer  capable  of  seeing  God  as 
lie  really  is,  nor  capable  of  choosing  God  as  he  really  is,  for  the 
portion  of  our  souls;  but,  on  the  contrary,  we  are  prone,  and 
that  both  naturally  and  continually,  to  see  and  to  choose  all 
things,  and  especially  all  spiritual  things,  in  a  manner  always 
different,  and  often  exactly  opposite,  from  the  manner  in  which. 
God  sees  and  chooses  them.  If  we  could  suppose  it  possible  that 
we  had  come  without  fault  into  such  a  state  as  this,  we  might 
make  some  claim  that  we  were  merely  victims.  As  the  case 
stands  avc  are  really  criminals,  and  that  even  upon  the  testimony 
of  our  own  conscience.  The  misery  of  our  condition  is  nut  only 
most  proper  hut  wholly  secondary  :  it  is  its  sinfulness  that  ac- 
counts for  all,  nay,  that  is  its  essential  and  controlling  feature. 
So  taken,  there  are  two  aspects  of  the  matter  which  immediately 
concern  us  here.  In  the  first  place,  the  retention  of  the  image 
of  God,  in  any  proper  sense,  by  the  fallen  soul  ;  and,  in  the  sec- 
ond place,  the  restoration  of  that  image  to  the  soul.  The  second 
point  I  will  consider  in  the  next  paragraph.  Touching  the  first, 
this  paragraph  was  designed  to  state  its  true  sense,  the  sum  of 
which  is  this :  in  so  far  as  human  nature  is  identical  with  itself 
throughout  all  its  estates,  to  that  extent  it  preserves  the  image 
of  God  through  them  all ;  in  so  far  as  it  varies  through  successive 
estates,  its  likeness  to  God  increases  or  diminishes  ;  in  so  far  as  it 
loses  entirely  in  one  estate  some  striking  mark  of  conformity  to 
which  it  possessed  before,  as,  for  example,  true  holiness,  it 
has  therein  wholly  lost  the  image  of  God  ;  and  in  like  manner 
of  the  defacing  and  obscuring  of  God's  image,  either  partially  of 
certain  qualities  or  totally  of  the  whole  nature  ;  and  also  of  the 
restoration,  augmentation,  and  consummate  perfection  of  God's 
image  in  man.  What  is  insisted  on  is,  that  a  self-conscious  in- 
telligence cannot  well  be  conceived  of  as  totally  ignorant  of  the 
creator  and  perpetual  sustainer  of  it,  more  especially  if  he  contin- 
ually and  in  various  ways  manifests  himself  to  it  ;  but.  that  this 
ignorance,  if  possible  at  all,  is  purely  voluntary,  if  the  self-con- 
scious intelligence  bears  the  image  of  its  creator.  Nor  is  it  possi- 
ble for  subsequent  changes  in  the  creature,  provided  they  do  not 
destroy  its  essence,  to  destroy  totally  the  image  of  the  creator, 
and  the  means  of  knowing  him  thereby.  If  it  were  possible  for 
that  to  occur,  the  effect  would  be  that  a  totally  new  form  of  ex- 
istence would  occur,  which  would  not  be  human  nature,  what- 

28 


434  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

ever  it  might  be.  For  us  the  universal  consciousness  of  the  race, 
responsive  to  the  continual  testimony  of  the  Scriptures,  puts  the 
matter  at  rest.  Man's  whole  career  is  one  sustained  response  to 
this  universal  consciousness  of  the  race — this  continual  testi- 
mony of  God  ; — one  great,  blind,  misguided  struggle  to  recover 
the  lost  image  of  God,  and  achieve  the  promised  deliverance  ; 
one  perpetual  demonstration  that  he  needs,  that  he  desires,  and 
that  he  is  capable  of  restoration,  but  that  he  does  not  under- 
stand it,  is  unable  to  accomplish  it,  and  is  repugnant  to  the 
method  in  which  alone  it  is  possible  ! 

3.  The  strange  conviction  of  mankind,  that  they  were  author- 
ized to  hope  for  a  better  state,  and  that  it  would  be  the  fruit  of 
divine  mercy ;  however  it  may  have  arisen  or  been  propagated, 
was  not  without  the  surest  foundation.  God's  eternal  Covenant 
of  Grace  pointed  exactly  in  that  direction  :  and  the  unanimous 
testimony  of  his  children,  in  all  ages,  has  been  that  the  renewal 
of  the  human  soul  is  a  great  reality.  It  is  of  God  :  it  is  through 
Jesus  Christ  ;  it  is  by  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  it  is  under  the  light 
and  power  of  divine  truth  ;  in  it  the  understanding  is  enlight- 
ened, the  will  is  renewed,  the  conscience  is  sanctified,  the  affec- 
tions are  purified  ;  the  result  is  a  new  ability  and  a  new  desire 
to  know,  to  serve,  and  to  enjoy  God.  This  universal  testimony 
of  every  one  concerning  himself,  is  confirmed  by  every  one  of  all 
the  rest,  and  by  the  Word  of  God  concerning  the  whole  ;  of 
which  divine  word,  this  new  creation  of  the  soul  of  man,  in  the 
necessity,  the  reality  and  the  nature  thereof,  is  as  it  relates  to  us 
the  most  peculiar  and  pregnant  part.  It  is  this  new  life  of  the 
soul,  in  which  every  thing  that  practically  distinguishes  all 
Christian  people,  primarily  consists.  In  the  varieties  of  its'man- 
ifestations,  founded  more  or  less  upon  previous  individual  diver- 
sities, but  founded  also  upon  that  sovereign  will  upon  which  all 
other  diversities  ultimately  rest  ;  consist  the  wonderful  diversi- 
ties of  the  people  of  God,  both  in  gifts  and  graces.  There  are, 
however,  matters  in  which  no  diversity  can  be  ;  and  they  are 
supreme.  There  must  be  a  restoration  to  the  lost  image  of  God; 
a  new  creation  of  the  soul  by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  which  God  him- 
self is  the  model,  and  which  is  wrought  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
name  and  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Neither  the  old  creation, 
nor  the  natural  birth,  nor  the  resurrection  of  man,  is  a  complete 
image  of  this  new  birth.     For   in  neither  of  those  wonderful 


CHAP.  XXIX.]       GOD     MANIFEST     IN     THE     SOUL.  '  ■  •> 

works,  was  a  living,  thinking,  feeling,  self-conscious  spirit,  the 
subject  of  the  amazing  change.  A  change  wrought,  not  by  it, 
nor  even  of  it,  but  in  it,  and  that  by  God  himself:  a  change  in 
which  it  was  indeed  a  subject  and  not  an  agent,  and  under 
which  its  condition  was  one  not  of  activity  hut  of  passivity. 
Nevertheless  it  is  a  passivity  of  a  most  peculiar  kind.  Not  that 
of  the  dust,  or  the  foetus,  or  the  dead,  as  in  the  three  other 
cases.  But  that  of  a  living,  thinking,  feeling,  self-conscious 
spirit,  which  incurs  a  divine  and  spiritual  renewal,  toward  which 
it  has  no  efficiency  of  its  own.  Thus  renewed,  the  new  life  of 
this  spirit  must  be,  of  necessity,  a  real  and  vital  existence,  tend- 
ing unto  and  nourished  continually  by  him  who  gave  it  ;  adorned 
with  some  gift  of  God,  crowned  with  some  grace  of  the  Spirit, 
manifesting  in  some  way  or  other  a  light,  the  very  nature  of 
which  is,  that  it  cannot  be  hid.  And  finally,  the  two  invariable 
manifestations  of  the  new  life  of  this  renewed  soul ;  the  two  un- 
alterable tendencies  of  the  restored  spirit ;  the  two  grand  offices 
of  spiritual  religion  as  a  power  in  the  regenerate  heart :  Faith, 
namely,  and  Eepentance,  must  show  forth  themselves  and  their 
fruits.  The  reality  of  the  new  creation  of  the  fallen  spirit ;  the 
reality  of  the  new  life  of  the  soul  thus  restored  ;  the  reality  of  its 
union  with  Christ  its  Saviour,  and  of  its  possession  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  its  sanctifier :  These  are  realities  which  no  more  admit  of 
uncertainty  or  variety,  than  the  realities  of  our  existence  as  spirit- 
ual, rational,  moral,  and  fallen,  admit  of  them. 

4.  Whether  we  consider  the  effects  which  are  thus  produced 
in  us,  or  the  methods  by  which  they  occur,  or  the  agencies 
through  which  they  are  effected  ;  we  are  equally  conducted  to  a 
surer  and  higher  knowledge  both  of  God  and  of  ourselves.  And 
are  conducted  again,  through  the  peculiar  knowledge  of  ourselves 
thus  obtained,  and  by  means  of  our  increased  capacity  for  divine 
knowledge  ;  to  a  still  higher  and  nearer  knowledge  of  God.  Let 
us  endeavor  to  observe  this  more  closely. 

(a)  The  allegation  is,  that  the  effects  produced  on  us  by  the 
renewal  of  our  nature,  are  of  such  a  kind  as  to  augment  our 
knowledge  of  ourselves  not  only,  but  our  knowledge  of  God  also  ; 
and  the  latter  in  various  ways.  The  immediate  effect  is,  that  a 
new  life  analogous  to  that  of  the  quickening  spirit  Christ,  sup- 
plants in  us  the  old  life  analogous  to  that  of  the  living  soul  Ad- 
am.    The  old  man  with  his  deeds  is  put  off,  and  the  new  man  is 


436  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

put  on.  But  it  is  expressly  declared  that  the  old  man  was  cor- 
rupt according  to  the  deceitful  lusts,  and  that  the  new  man  is 
renewed  in  knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him, 
and  that  after  God  he  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holi- 
ness.1 We  were  spirits  before,  and  are  spirits  still ;  the  nature, 
understanding,  will,  power,  affections  which  we  had  before,  we 
have  still  ;  but  before,  their  state  was,  as  compared  with  their 
present  state,  corrupt,  deceitful,  lustful,  and  every  way  evil ; 
while  their  present  state  as  compared  with  their  former,  is  one  of 
knowledge,  righteousness,  and  true  holiness,  all  of  which  are  in 
the  image  of  corresponding  Perfections  of  God,  who  has  renewed, 
created  again  the  soul  thereunto.  Besting  here  upon  the  first 
steps  of  this  new  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,  the  objective 
view  of  which  alone  appertains  to  the  present  stage  of  our  inquiry, 
the  mere  statement  of  the  case  seems  to  be  conclusive.  Every 
effect  upon  us,  which  is  indicated,  or  which  upon  that  line  of 
progress  is  possible,  is  an  effect  whereby  the  knowledge  of  our- 
selves is  necessarily  and  continually  increased  ;  and  whereby  the 
knowledge  of  God  in  us  becomes  clearer,  higher,  and  more  inti- 
mate ;  and  whereby  at  every  step  of  our  progress  we  become 
more  and  more  conformed  unto  him,  and  therefore,  in  a  like  de- 
gree, qualified  and  inclined  to  know  and  to  enjoy  him.  These 
results  are  involved  in  the  terms  of  the  proposition,  and  are  in- 
evitable. They  would  occur  with  absolute  uniformity,  if  it  were 
so  that  God  in  his  sovereign  good  pleasure  never  withdrew  his 
spirit,  nor  hid  his  face  for  a  time  from  his  children  ;  or  if  his 
children  never  backslid  through  the  power  of  indwelling  sin,  the 
remains  of  depravity  in  a  nature  not  perfectly  sanctified.  These 
and  other  causes  which  interrupt  the  uniform  progress  of  our  new 
life,  appertain  to  another  place,  and  neither  space  nor  a  proper 
method  allows  them  to  be  treated  here. 

(b)  The  methods  by  which  the  effects  produced  on  us  in  our 
regeneration  occur,  are  subject  to  a  similar  statement,  as  the 
effects  themselves,  concerning  their  influence  upon  our  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  of  ourselves.  However  various  these  methods 
may  be,  they  all  respect  the  actual  nature  to  which  they  are  ap- 
plied ;  all  fend  to  the  purification  and  exaltation  of  that  nature. 
They  are  methods  by  which  new  truth  is  brought  before  our  in- 
telligence, and  all  truth  is  made  more  obvious ;  by  which  new 

1  Epb.,  iv.  22-24;  Co!.,  iii.  9,  10. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]       GOD     MANIFEST     IS     THE     SOUL.  437 

and  higher  forms  of  grace  are  exhibited  to  our  moral  nature,  and 
all  g  is  made  more  distinct   to  the  conscience;  by  which 

the  true  nature  of  all  that  is  false  and  all  that  is  evil,  is  continu- 
ally set  before  the  soul.     They  are  methods  which,  consider-  . 

ied  from  without  inwardly  upon  the  soul,  are  the  result 
superhuman  insight  of  its  nature,  and  a  divine  recognition  < 
condition  and  capabilities  ;  aud  considered  as  working  within    b 
soul  itself,  they  in  I  every  step  accomplish-.d.  its  «  wn  free 

and  enlightened  consent.     Did  any  one  ever  hear  ,i  re- 

_  that  it  was  born  again  ?  Did  any  one  ever  imagine  I 
the  struggles  of  an  awakened  soul  under  the  burden  of  its  sin, 
tended  toward  any  thing  evil,  as  long  as  they  tended  toward 
Christ  ?  Or  that  the  penitent  and  believing  soul,  ever  charged 
any  divinely-appointed  means  of  grace  with  being  a  burden,  a 
violence,  or  a  sna;  Did  any  one  ever  complain  that  violence 

had  been  done  to  the  freedom  of  his  nature,  because  God  had  not 
left  his  b<:asted  self-determining  power  in  such  total  ignorance, 
and  blindness,  and  imbecility,  as  to  what  was  true  and  good,  as 
rendered  all  choice  impossible,  capricious  or  uncertain  ;  or  that 
it  "was  a  further  violence  that  God,  whether  by  natural  means  or 
through  an  intimate  and  even  supernatural  influence  upon  the 

.  or  through  a  fundamental  renovation  of  the  spirit  itself,  had 
controlled  the  free  determination  of  the  will,  unto  the  true  ;.:.  1 
the  good,  that  is  unto  himself  ?  The  manifestation  of  God  is 
our  only  means  of  knowing  him.  everywhere  and  in  even-  way. 
But  this  ma:.  d  occurs  in  the  very  soul  itself,  which  is  the 

seat  of  knowledge  ;  and  occurs  by  methods  expressly  devised  in 
infinite  wisdom,  fur  the  renewal  of  that  soul  in  knowledge  itself; 
and  by  the  perfect  application  of  those  methods,  with  a  divine 
power  even  to  the  extent  of  a  new  creation  :  these  are  the 
terms  of  the  problem.  The  demand  is,  does  an  augruen- 
our  knowledge  of  ourselves  and  of  God  necessarily  result  from 
such  a  manifestation  of  God  in  us  ?  Surely  but  one  answer  can 
be  given. 

(c)  Concerning  the  agencies  thr~'U2h  which  all  the  methods 
of  divine  manifestation  are  conducted  in  the  soul  of  man  unto 
his  regeneration  and  sanetificatk>u:  a  statement  precisely  similar 
to  those  made  concerning  the  methods  adopted  and  the  effect 
produced,  as  means  of  increasing  our  knowledge  of  God  and  of 
ourselves,  must  be  made.     Using  the  word  agencies  in  its  widest 


438  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     G  0  ^ .  [BOOK  IV. 

sense,  and  remembering  that  the  great  end  of  them  all  is  the 
complete  restoration  of  man's  spiritual  being,  and  that  chiefly  in 
the  sanctification  of  his  conscience  ;  we  shall  see  at  once,  as  the 
chief  of  them  are  suggested,  how  directly  and  how  powerfully 
their  action  upon  the  soul  and  in  it,  must  reveal  to  the  soul  its 
own  nature  and  state;  must  make  God  manifest  to  it;  and  must 
constantly  augment  its  fitness  and  its  desire  for  the  knowledge 
and  enjoyment  of  him.  (1.)  The  great  agency  is  God  himself. 
He  created  man  ;  he  regenerates  man  ;  he  sanctifies  man.  The 
Father  and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  each  as  a  divine  person, 
and  the  Godhead  in  which  all  three  unitedly  subsist  in  one  es- 
sence ;  it  is  this  adorable  God,  considered  as  one  God  in  three 
persons,  who  is  the  sole  efficient  agent  in  the  entire  work  of 
man's  new  creation.  This  has  been  so  largely  and  variously 
shown,  that  nothing  more  is  needed  here,  than  to  call  attention 
to  the  manifest  impossibility  of  such  a  work,  by  such  an  agent 
in  such  a  soul,  without  its  result  being  exactly  such  as  is  now 
insisted  on.  Indeed,  I  must  go  further,  and  assert  that  by  means 
of  the  Plan  of  Salvation  practically  exhibited  and  inwardly  ap- 
plied, such  insight  and  enjoyment  of  God  is  possessed  by  every  j)eni- 
tent  and  believing  soul,  as  is  possessed  by  no  other  created  being, 
and  as  is  wholly  unattainable  by  any  other.  (2.)  This  agency  of 
God  is  attended  continually  by  the  agency  of  divine  truth;  truth, 
that  is,  having  relation  to  divine  things,  and  chosen  and  uttered 
and  applied  by  God  for  this  very  end.  Concerning  which  it  is 
enough  to  repeat  here,  that  truth  considered  of  itself  being  the 
immediate  object  and  aliment  of  the  understanding,  and  consid- 
ered as  good  being  the  immediate  object  and  aliment  of  the  con- 
science ;  it  cannot  but  be,  that  such  a  use  of  it  in  its  highest 
form,  and  attended  with  a  divine  power,  must  produce  its  highest 
possible  effects  ;  that  is,  the  highest  knowledge  and  enjoyment 
of  God  attainable  by  man,  must  be  the  product  of  these  causes. 
That  divine  truth  is  the  only  efficient  instrument  in  the  sancti- 
fication of  the  soul,  is  not  disputed  amongst  the  children  of  God. 
That  it  is  used  also  in  the  very  work  of  regeneration  itself,  is 
probably  their  common,  though  not  universal  judgment ;  a  point 
the  less  necessary  to  be  discussed  out  of  its  place,  as  it  is  not  dis- 
puted, that  in  whatever  the  soul  itself  takes  any  part,  the  agency 
of  divine  truth  is  employed  by  God.  (3.)  Amongst  outward 
agencies,  of  which  the  number  is  so  great,  embracing  all  the 


CHAP.  XXIX.]        GOD    MANIFEST    IN    THE    SOUL.  439 

stated  means  of  grace,  all  of  which  are  means  of  instruction  ; 
and  embracing  also  innumerable  opportunities  and  occasions  from 
other  quarters  ;  I  ought  not  to  omit  particular  mention  of  the 
special  providence  of  God.  No  proof  can  be  greater  that  God, 
in  all  his  grace  toward  us,  respects  his  own  previous  work  as  our 
Creator,  and  acts  within  us  regardfully  of  the  nature  he  has 
given  us  ;  than  that,  instead  of  doing  the  least  violence  to  our 
free,  knowing  and  self-conscious,  though  depraved  spirit,  he  re- 
sorts to  outward  and  providential  means,  of  bringing  us  to  the 
effectual  knowledge  of,  and  willing  subjection  unto,  all  inward 
means.  The  mercies  which  crown  our  lot,  and  the  sorrows  which 
darken  it,  are  both  alike  connected  with  God's  inward  dealings 
with  our  souls  in  a  manner  so  exact,  that  the  most  thoughtless 
cannot  overlook  it,  nor  the  most  obdurate  wholly  disregard  it. 
So  deeply  seated  in  human  nature  is  the  recognition  of  this  con- 
nection, that  probably  no  great  movement  of  God  upon  the  soul 
of  man  has  ever  occurred,  without  being  associated  in  the 
thoughts  of  him  who  was  the  subject  of  it,  with  some  outward 
movement  of  God's  sjiecial  providence.  That  is  to  say — so  far 
as  relates  to  the  matter  before  us,  in  all  God's  work  of  grace,  lie 
respects  his  work  of  creation  in  us  ;  and  subordinates  his  work 
of  providence  over  us ;  toward  the  making  of  his  grace  effectual, 
in  building  us  up  in  the  knowledge  and  fruition  of  himself.  (4.) 
As  to  the  soul  itself,  there  is  one  remarkable  aspect  of  it,  in 
which  it  may  be  said  to  be  an  agency  employed  in  its  own  growth 
in  the  knowledge  of  God  under  every  manifestation  he  makes  of 
himself ;  and  amongst  the  rest,  very  especially  under  that  mani- 
festation of  him  which  occurs  in  its  own  conscious  existence.  I 
have  already  pointed  out  that  the  soul  incurs,  sustains,  is  the 
subject  of  this  new  creation  ;  and  that  there  is  no  conceivable 
sense  in  which  it  can  be  said  to  exert  an  efficient  activity  there- 
unto ;  while  its  passivity,  nevertheless,  is  the  peculiar  passivity 
of  a  self-conscious  spirit,  upon  which  a  vital  process  passes,  by 
a  divine  power.  And  these  distinctions,  though  they  may  ap- 
pear over  nice,  and  not  very  important,  are  really  wholly  deci- 
sive in  the  present  state  of  Philosophy  and  Casuistical  Theology 
— of  many  questions  which  enter  vitally  into  Christian  doc- 
trine and  experience.  But  the  suul  has  one  remarkable  power  ; 
the  power,  namely,  of  directing,  of  fixing,  of  changing,  of  sus- 
taining the  attention  ;  the  fruits  of  whose  exercise  or  neglect, 


440  TIIE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

are  transcendent,  and  are  in  their  origin,  voluntary.  When  it  is 
considered  that  there  is  no  way  known  to  us,  by  which  any 
faculty  of  the  mind,  or  any  emotion  of  the  soul,  can  be  culti- 
vated, except  by  its  own  exercise  :  and  when  it  is  further  con- 
sidered how  decisive  is  the  part  played  by  the  attention,  in  the 
exercise,  and  therefore  in  the  cultivation,  of  our  mental  powers; 
it  is  easy  to  see  how  justly  the  Apostle  Peter  charges  that  our 
ignorance  of  divine  things  is  voluntary ;  and  how  justly  he  de- 
nounces it  as  most  sinful  and  most  insulting  to  God.1  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  obvious,  how  surely  any  method  by  which  God 
is  pleased  to  control  and  sustain  the  attention  of  the  human  soul 
--much  more  of  the  regenerate  soul,  directed  upon  itself,  and 
upon  the  divine  manifestations  in  itself;  must  augment  our  knowl- 
edge both  of  him  and  ourself,  and  must  increase  our  capability  of 
the  further  knowledge  of  both.  The  result  thus  reached  is  the 
common  experience  of  all  Christian  people  ;  for  nothing  is  more 
certain  than  this  very  increase  of  the  power  and  compass  of  the 
new  life  in  the  soul  of  man,  under  its  fixed  and  habitual  atten- 
tion to  God's  dealings  with  it. 

5.  The  sum  of  the  matter,  stated  in  a  form  at  once  exact 
and  general,  is  to  this  effect,  namely  :  God  is  the  Creator  and 
the  Renewer  of  the  human  soul :  both  that  creation  and  that 
renewal  are  in  the  image  of  God  himself:  the  soul,  therefore,  in 
knowing  itself,  has  a  double  means  of  knowing  God,  one  as  it 
knows  his  image,  and  that  in  a  twofold  manner,  and  the  other  as 
it  knows  his  presence  and  operation,  sustaining,  renewing  and 
advancing  the  soul,  and  his  own  image  therein.  The  fall  and 
recovery  of  the  soul,  taken  altogether,  so  far  from  weakening, 
strengthens  the  case,  by  reason  of  such  a  manifestation  of  God 
in  the  renewal  of  the  soul  as  would  not  otherwise  have  occurred ; 
and  by  reason  of  such  proofs  of  his  being  and  nature,  and  such 
insight  and  fruition  of  him  by  the  soul,  as  were  impossible  upon 
any  other  conditions.  The  existence  of  man  being  the  exist- 
ence of  a  self-conscious  spirit,  to  whose  nature  it  appertains  that 
it  thinks,  feels,  knows  and  desires  ;  it  follows  inevitably  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  that  God  as  the  Creator  and  the  Renewer 
of  the  human  soul,  is  manifest  in  the  conscious  existence  of  man. 
This  great  and  decisive  result  assumes  a  new  importance,  when 
we  reflect,  that  what  is  thus  shown  to  be  absolutely  certain  from 

1  2  Peter,  ii.  2-10. 


OHAP.  XXIX.]         GOD     MANIFEST     IN     THE     SOUL.  441 

the  nature  of  the  case,  is  conclusively  established,  beside,  by  the 
independent  testimony  of  God  himself,  on  one  side  ;  and  of  the 
soul  of  man  on  the  other  ;  the  Word  of  God  and  human  expe- 
rience uniting  in  the  most  precise  assurances,  that  God  is  thus 
known  by  man.  Starting  from  this  point,  and  remembering  that 
every  other  manifestation  of  God  to  man  is  a  manifestation  to 
this  living  and  knowing  soul,  to  which  God  is  already  manifested 
in  itself,  as  its  Creator  simply,  or  doubly  as  its  Creator  and  its 
Kenewer  ;  that  much  additional  force  is  to  be  given  to  every 
other  source  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  that  the  search  into  it  is 
not  in  reality  made  by  a  rational  soul  still  in  a  state  of  darkness, 
but  by  a  rational  soul  already  illuminated  by  the  candle  of  the 
Lord.  It  is  not  easy  to  say  in  how  many  ways  the  depraved  soul 
of  man  can  resist,  evade,  and  pervert  the  truth  ;  nor  to  estimate 
the  depth  of  that  marvellous  hatred  it  can  reach,  of  all  that  God 
propounds  to  it  as  good.  But  this  docs  not  impeach  the  con- 
trary powers,  and  capabilities,  and  tendencies  of  the  soul ;  much 
less  does  it  impeach  the  means  by  which  God  manifests  himself 
as  the  sum  of  all  that  man  ought  to  know  and  desire.  It  only 
sets  before  us  one  edge  of  those  great  problems  which  lie  at  our 
next  step,  directly  in  our  path,  and  the  discussion  of  which  com- 
pletes the  objective  side  of  the  Knowledge  of  God :  namely,  the 
application  of  all  our  Knowledge,  both  of  God  and  of  ourselves, 
to  the  solution  of  the  questions  of  our  first  and  our  last  estates  : 
the  beginning  and  the  end  of  our  career:  the  sum  and  result  of 
all  divine  knowledge  as  relates  to  all  human  existence. 


THE   KNOWLEDGE    OF   GOD, 

OBJECTIVELY    CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT   OF   THE   FIFTH  BOOK. 

This  Fifth  Book  is  in  one  respect,  a  re-survey  of  the  fundamental  basis  of  the 
argument  which  the  preceding  four  Books  may  be  said  to  rest  upon ;  being  a 
careful  deduction  from  the  creation  of  Man  downwards  to  the  point,  at  which  the 
whole  Treatise  took  its  start,  in  the  Study  of  Man  as  he  actually  exists.  In  an- 
other respect,  it  is  a  supplement  to  the  preceding  four  Books ;  being  the  application 
of  their  sum  and  results,  to  the  whole  questions  of  God,  of  Man,  of  the  Media- 
tor and  of  the  Knowledge  of  all — as  they  unitedly  bear  on  the  grand  problems 
of  religion  and  upon  their  sum  and  result.  In  still  another  respect  a  course  of 
enquiry,  very  simple  at  first — becoming  more  and  more  difficult  with  every 
successive  step — may  be  said  to  be  completed  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  Book ; 
and  now,  in  this  fifth  Book,  it  is  applied  in  its  immense  results,  to  those  vast  and 
intricate  questions  which  commence  with  the  origin  of  the  human  race,  control 
its  whole  career,  and  preside  at  its  final  catastrophe.  Taken  by  itself,  it  is  a 
treatise  of  Mortal  existence  and  divine  Truth,  face  to  face :  taken  as  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  four  preceding  Books,  it  is  an  exposition  of  their  theoretical  and 
practical  results.  The  Thirtieth  Chapter,  which  is  the  First  of  this  Fifth  Book, 
discusses  the  Primeval  State  of  Man — his  creation  in  the  image  of  God — his 
glory  and  blessedness — his  perfection  and  fallibility — his  special  consecration  to 
God :  therewith,  the  nature  of  duty  and  responsibility — the  measure  of  both — 
the  certainty  of  redress :  the  conception  of  a  covenant  added  to  such  a  system — 
the  fundamental  difference  between  the  two — and  the  indestructible  nature  of 
the  results  of  that  primeval  condition  of  man,  throughout  every  subsequent 
condition  in  which  he  can  exist.  The  Thirty-First  Chapter,  which  is  the  sec- 
ond of  this  Book,  treats  of  the  Covenant  of  Works — commencing  with  a  settle- 
ment of  the  moral  relations  of  the  Creature  to  the  Creator  merely  as  such,  and 
the  modification  thereof  by  express  Covenant — with  an  appreciation  of  this 
particular  Covenant.  Then  follows  a  detailed  analysis  of  the  scriptural  state- 
ments concerning  this  Covenant — the  principles  upon  which  it  rested — the  end 
it  was  designed  to  produce — the  scope  of  it — and  the  sanctions  of  it:  then  a 
demonstration  of  the  perpetuity  of  the  Moral  Law — an  enquiry  into  the  con- 
ception of  Man  on  which  the  Covenant  of  Works  was  based — and  into  the  na- 
ture of  perfection  in  created  and  dependent  beings :  the  sovereignty  of  God  and 


144  ARGUMENT     OF     THE    FIFTH     BOOK. 

the  dependence  of  man,  are  shown  to  be  fundamental  elements  of  Religion,  in 
itself— the  modification  of  the  Primeval  State  of  Man  by  the  Covenant  of 
"Works  to  have  been  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  man — and  all  the  objections 
thereto  to  be  mere  cavils  against  God's  sovereignty  in  Creation,  in  Providence 
or  in  Grace :  in  conclusion,  the  immutability  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Religion,  irrespective  of  the  form  Religion  may  put  on,  is  demonstrated — and 
the  chief  of  those  principles  are  stated,  illustrated  and  applied.  The  Thirty- 
Second  Chapter,  which  is  the  Third  of  this  Book,  discusses  the  whole  question 
of  the  breach  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  the  Fall  of  Man,  and  thereby  the  en- 
trance of  Evil  into  our  universe :  the  discussion  begins  with  the  question  of 
Evil — and  shows  that  its  Philosophical  solution  is  clear,  but  conditional :  the 
solution  of  the  whole  matter  given  by  the  Apostle  Paul,  in  connection  with  the 
Fall  and  Recovery  of  Man,  is  carefully  examined :  and  then  the  account  of  the 
matter  by  Moses,  is  thoroughly  considered:  the  relation  of  the  whole  transac- 
tion to  the  state  of  mind  of  all  the  parties  involved  in  it — to  the  Moral  Law  and 
the  question  of  duty — and  to  the  eternal  purpose  and  counsel  of  God,  is  expli- 
cated :  then  follows  an  examination  of  the  personal  and  immediate  effects  of 
the  Fall — the  sentence  of  God  upon  the  Offenders — the  appreciation  of  that 
sentence  and  of  the  state  of  man  and  the  universe  under  it — the  passing  of  a 
perfect  nature  through  its  fallibility,  over  to  pollution:  and  in  conclusion,  a 
thorough  consideration  of  Original  Sin,  and  briefly  the  distinction  between 
penal  and  incidental  consequences  of  the  Fall  of  Adam. — The  Thirty-Third 
Chapter,  which  is  the  Fourth  of  this  Book,  is  an  attempt  to  apply  the  sum  of 
the  great  truths  established,  to  the  explication  of  the  whole  career  and  destiny 
of  the  human  race;  beginning  with  an  exhibition  of  the  efficiency  of  the 
Method  pursued,  and  the  certainty  of  the  Truths  reached — it  is  shown  how 
close  the  connection  is  between  the  Knowledge  of  ourselves  and  the  Knowl- 
edge of  God,  and  between  the  Objective  and  Subjective  Knowledge  of  God: 
then  the  human  race  considered  as  a  whole — throughout  its  whole  career — is 
estimated — together  with  the  bearing  of  both  Covenants  upon  it,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  divine  knowledge  on  it :  its  condition  is  shown  to  be  perilous  and  transi- 
tory— its  impending  catastrophe  to  be  the  extinction  of  its  mortal  existence,  at 
the  second  coming  of  the  Lord — and  its  estate,  together  with  that  of  the  visible 
church,  and  that  of  individual  professors  at  that  period  is  pointed  out,  and  the 
solution  of  every  problem,  now  unsolved,  shown  to  be  perfect  then:  the  indi- 
vidual destiny  of  men  is  then  discussed,  and  it  is  shown  that  both  Covenants 
contemplated  those  embraced  under  them,  individually :  it  is  pointed  out  how 
and  when  individual  pollution  occurs,  how  and  when  individual  restoration — 
and  the  doctrines  of  Reprobation  and  Election,  and  the  resemblance  and  the 
difference  between  the  career  of  the  Reprobate  and  the  Elect  are  explained : 
then  the  grand  solution  of  the  problem  of  mortal  existence  is  shown  to  be 
double,  not  single — Salvation  and  Perdition — with  the  method  of  the  Glory  of 
God  in  both — and  the  infallible  certainty  of  our  knowledge  thereof. — The 
Thirty-Fourth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Fifth  and  last  of  this  Book,  and  the  last  also 
of  this  Treatise,  is  an  attempt  to  account  for  the  apparent  conflict  between  many 
of  the  clearest  truths  concerning  God  and  many  of  the  clearest  concerning  our- 
selves, and  to  point  out  the  influence  and  effect  of  this  state  of  case :  it  is  shown 


ARGUMENT    OF    TIIE    FIFTH    BOOK.  445 

that  the  Finite  and  the  [nfinite  coalesce  in  the  ve-ry  nature  ofReligion — thai 
double  results  occur  along  that  line — and  are,  in  the  nature  of  the  case  una 
able:  thai  their  denial  or  even  mitigation,  is  absurd — and  that  overpowering  as 
they  may  be,  the  human  soul  accepts  them  nol  only  as  real  and  inevitable,  1  >ut  as 
ritual  life:  thai  God  has  solved  some  of  the  most  august 

em — that  th  !  of  a  thorough  Evangelism,  and  a  sound  Ph 

phy  -  ••  more — thai  even  the  mosl  insoluble  are  perceived,  by  the  re- 

newed soul,  not  to  be  contradictions,  but  to  be  the  sublimest  realities,  whose 
3  in  some  generalization  higher  up  than  we  can  reach — but  to  which 
a  higher  form  of  spiritual  life  may  yet  bring  us.  And  now,  if  I  may  venture, 
amongst  questions  so  numerous,  so  vast,  and  so  enduring,  to  select  such  as  are 
most  fundamental  and  to  state  them  in  a  connected  form,  it  seems  to  me  that 

■  which  follow  are  clearly  proved,  in  this  Book,  namely:  The  human  race  is 
a  created  race,  and  an  image  of  God — and  was  at  its  creation  consecrated  to 
God  in  a  most  special  manner:  Its  primeval  condition  was  one  of  great  glory 
and  blessedness,  perfect  in  itself,  but  fallible,  and  therefore  probationary: — The 
Covenant  of  Works  was  a  most  gracious  act  of  God,  added  in  order  to  lighten 
and  shorten  the  probation  of  Man,  being  a  covenant  of  life  with  the  single  con- 
dition of  obedience:  The  posterity  of  Adam  was  embraced  in  the  reward,  the 
peril,  and  the  penalty  of  this  trial  of  him  their  root — and  by  his  Fall  incurred 
with  him,  everything  involved  in  his  Fall:  Evil  of  whatever  kind,  entered 
and  fell  upon  the  human  race  by  reason  of  Adam's  Fall — the  chief  parts  thereof 
being  sin  and  misery  under  the  penalty  and  curse  of  which  the  whole  race 
lies :  The  Covenant  of  Grace  was  declared  by  God,  in  its  fundamental  pro- 
vision for  the  salvation  of  men  before  he  passed  sentence  on  Adam,  and  thereby 

'■solute  condition  of  our  fallen  race  was  utterly  changed:  The  actual  con- 
dition of  our  race  since  that  utterance  by  God,  is  that  of  a  fallen  race  out  of 
which  God  will  save,  by  grace  through  the  divine  Redeemer,  his  own  Elect — 
and  the  Remainder  will  perish  in  their  sins :  The  relation  of  Adam  to  the  whole 
race,  and  the  relation  of  the  Redeemer  to  the  portion  saved  out  of  the  race, 
bear  the  closest  resemblance  to  each  other — a  resemblance  existing  also  be- 
tween the  fundamental  principles  of  the  two  Covenants  of  which  they  were  the 
head  respectively — and  bel  ween  the  relations  of  the  two  Covenants  to  the  moral 
law,  and  to  the  nature  of  Man:  These  grand  truths,  all  of  which  are  revealed 
truths,  solve  every  problem  in  the  career  and  destiny  of  the  human  race,  whether 
taken  as  a  whole  or  taken  individually,  whether  considered  as  originally  perfect, 

»w  fallen,  or  as  to  be  finally  saved  or  lost:  The  mortal  existence  of  the 
human  race  is  temporaiy  and  most  perilous,  and  will  be  extinguished  at  the 
Second  Coming  of  the  Lord — when  every  problem  of  human  existence,  whether 
mortal  or  immortal,  will  be  openly  solved  to  the  infinite  glory  of  God:    The 

-  and  seasons  of  that  Second  Coming  are  absolutely  unrevealed:  The  sum 
and  result  of  our  Knowledge  of  God,  and.  of  the  whole  career  and  destiny  of 
man,  have  a  precise  and  determinate  relation  to  each  other:  So  much  as  is  in- 
explicable by  us  is  bo  far  from  being  false,  that  its  reversal  would  subvert  the 
foundations  of  Knowledge  :  And  finally,  the  Knowledge  of  God  attainable  by 
man  is  absolutely  certain — and  its  result  is  perfectly  sure  in  the  salvation  of 
penitent  and  believing  sinners. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE    PRIMEVAL    STATE    OF    MAN. 

I.  1.  Posture  of  the  question  stated. — 2.  Relation  of  our  natural  Reason  and  Instincts, 
to  the  Revealed  Knowledge  of  our  origin,  career  and  destiny. — II.  1.  Multitu- 
dinous creations  of  pretended  science :  one  of  the  Bible. — 2.  The  creation  of 
Man  in  the  image  of  God. — 3.  Statement  of  the  condition  of  Man  as  thus  created. 
— L  Appreciation  of  that  condition. — 5.  God's  consecration  of  Man  to  himself; 
and  therewith  the  consecration  of  the  Sabbath.  Significance  of  these  Acts. — G. 
The  Dominion,  Glory  and  Blessedness  of  our  race,  as  created. — III.  1.  The  na- 
ture of  duty  and  responsibility  as  connected  with  the  primeval  State  of  Man. — 2. 
The  measure  of  both. — 3.  Measure  and  certainty  of  redress. — 4.  Conception  of  a 
covenant,  added  to  such  a  system. — 5.  Fundamental  distinction  between  the 
primeval  condition  of  man,  and  his  condition  under  the  Covenant  of  Works. — 
6.  Indestructible  results  of  the  former  condition. — 7.  Importance  of  the  analysis 
herein  attempted. 

I. — 1.  The  whole  of  this  attempt  to  develop,  in  an  objective 
point  of  view,  the  nature,  the  extent  and  the  sources  of  that 
Knowledge  of  God  which  is  attainable  by  us,  took  its  start  with 
an  inquiry  into  the  actual  state  of  man.  The  result  to  which 
that  inquiry  led  in  its  first  stage,  and  which  was  developed  in 
the  third  chapter,  was  that  the  actual  condition  of  the  human 
race  is  a  condition  of  universal  sin  and  misery  ;  and  that,  ex- 
cept by  means  of  some  divine  interposition,  unsearchable  to  hu- 
man reason,  this  ruin  of  the  race  is  irremediable.  At  that 
point,  the  general  subject  separated  into  two  branches,  of  which 
one  had  relation  to  the  preceding  history  of  the  human  race, 
and  the  other  to  its  immediate  career :  along  one  or  other  of 
which  it  behooved  to  pursue  our  inquiry  into  the  knowledge  of 
God.  The  latter,  which  we  took,  carried  us  directly  at  the  first 
step  to  the  actual  interposition  of  God  :  at  the  next  step  to  the 
Person,  Work,  and  Glory  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world  :  and  then, 
with  him  exalted  to  the  throne  of  the  universe,  not  only  as  its 
Ruler  and  Eedeemer,  but  as  its  Teacher  also,  our  inquiries  into 
the  Nature  and  Perfections  of  God,  and  then  into  all  the  mani- 
festations of  God — have  conducted  us  in  a  natural  and  rigidly 


448  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  |_B00K  V- 

consecutive  manner,  through  that  branch  of  the  subject,  to  its 
end,  as  a  means  of  divine  knowledge.  The  inquiry  recurs  now 
to  the  portion  of  the  subject,  left  at  the  close  of  the  third 
chapter.  It  was-  left  wTith  a  brief  explanation  to  this  effect, 
namely  :  That  it  did  not  belong  to  Christianity,  any  more  than 
to  all  other  systems  which  propose  to  redress  the  ruin  of  man, 
to  exj^lain  how  that  ruin  had  been  incurred  :  yet,  the  perfect 
ability  of  Christianity  to  give  a  complete  explanation,  when 
contrasted  with  the  utter  inability  of  all  other  systems  to  give 
any  explanation  at  all ;  and  the  complete  accordance  of  the 
remedy  afforded  by  Christianity  with  the  nature  and  mode  of 
occurrence  of  the  ruin  itself ;  raised  such  a  presumption  that 
Christianity  was  itself  the  very  divine  interposition  the  case  re- 
quired, that  we  might  well  accept  her  initiative  explanation  of  a 
topic  common  to  all  systems,  till  we  had  carefully  considered  the 
remedy  peculiar  to  herself,  which  she  had  to  propose.  That 
has  now  been  done.  And  under  the  perfect  conviction  that  the 
balm  that  is  in  Gilead  is  a  sovereign  remedy  for  all  the  sin  and 
all  the  misery  of  man  ;  we  may  take  up  again  the  account  of 
the  great  Physician  of  souls,  concerning  our  primeval  condition, 
the  origin  of  our  ruin,  the  exact  mode  of  our  present  condition, 
and  the  precise  results  of  all  things  under  it.  The  inquiry  opens 
to  us  the  sum  and  result  of  the  knowledge  of  God  objectively 
considered. 

2.  What  I  have  several  times  intimated  concerning  our  total 
ignorance  of  our  own  origin  and  destiny,  as  a  race,  is  worthy  of 
very  attentive  consideration.  Except  in  the  Word  of  God,  we  have 
no  distinct  account  worthy  of  a  moment's  consideration,  even  of  the 
primitive  condition,  much  less  of  the  actual  origin  of  mankind:  nor 
is  there,  except  in  it,  any  certain  grounds  for  even  a  probable  conjec- 
ture as  to  our  ultimate  fate  considered  as  connected  with  this  earth. 
On  both  points,  indeed,  the  human  mind,  even  in  its  most  ad- 
vanced condition,  has  gone  wdiolly  astray  from  the  truth  ;  not- 
withstanding its  access  to  the  primeval  knowledge  possessed  by 
the  first  parents  of  the  race,  and  to  the  revelations  of  God  so 
often  given,  during  so  many  ages,  and  so  widely  scattered  over 
the  earth.  It  has  gone  utterly  astray,  as  to  our  original  condi- 
tion :  supposing  it  to  have  been  very  low  at  first,  and  to  have 
advanced  greatly,  in  the  progress  of  ages  ;  whereas  its  first,  was 
its  highest  estate — lost,  and  tending  to  a  deeper  degradation — 


CHAP.  XXX.]  PRIMEVAL     STATE    OF    MAN.  449 

never  yet  recovered.  It  has  gone  astray  also,  as  to  our  destiny 
in  its  connection  with  this  earth  :  supposing  our  connection  with 
it  to  have  been  from  the  most  remote  antiquity,  whereas  it  is 
but  of  yesterday,  when  compared  with  all  the  past  :  and  suppos- 
ing it  will  be  perpetual  in  our  present  condition,  whereas  com- 
pared with  all  the  future,  it  will  be  most  transitory.  And  yet 
there  were  always  instincts  of  the  race,  wiser  by  far  than  its 
boasted  reason  :  common  convictions  dwelling  in  the  universal 
heart  and  mind  of  the  race,  truer  by  far  than  the  conjectures  of 
its  pretentious  knowledge.  Man  always  felt  that  he  was  blame- 
worthy :  and  why  should  he  not  experience  that  relief  from  un- 
rest, which  certain  knowledge  can  impart,  when  he  is  clearly 
taught  how  it  is  that  he  came  to  be  so  guilty,  and  his  sense  thereof 
so  just  ?  He  always  felt  that  somehow  and  somewhere,  human  na- 
ture had  been  or  would  be  a  better  and  higher  human  nature  than 
his  now  is  :  and  some  how,  or  somewhere,  had  been  or  would  be,  a 
worse  and  lower  human  nature  than  his  now  is.  He  had  concep- 
tions immeasurably  purer,  higher,  better,  nobler,  than  he  was 
himself:  he  had  conceptions  immeasurably  lower,  viler,  baser,  than 
he  was  himself:  he  had  boundless  hopes  and  aspirations  :  he  had 
fearful  misgivings  and  apprehensions.  It  was  idle  to  call  these 
tilings  idle:  they  were  always  feU  to  be  the  greatest  of  all  realities. 
And  they  were.  And  when  the  light  of  heaven  came  to  him,  and 
the  page  of  his  mysterious  being  and  destiny  was  fairly  read  by 
him,  then  it  was  all  plain  enough.  His  very  nature  was  a  testi- 
mony, and  his  whole  life  was  another,  to  the  truth  of  God's  ac- 
count of  his  primeval  state — of  his  career  and  of  his  end.  Much  of 
the  inscrutable  mystery  of  his  being,  in  all  its  aspects,  is  cleared 
up  as  soon  as  a  few  sentences  of  divine  truth  have  laid  bare  his 
primeval  condition,  and  the  true  causes  of  his  present  estate. 

II. — 1.  The  creation  of  man  was  the  last  creative  act  of  God 
on  the  last  of  the  six  days  of  creation.  There  is  no  intimation 
that  there  had  ever  been  any  cosmical  act  of  creation  put  forth  by 
God,  before  that  creation  recorded  by  Moses  ;  but  Ihere  is  much 
in  the  account  which  it  is  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible  to 
reconcile  with  any  belief  or  admission  on  the  part  of  Moses,  that 
any  previous  cosmical  creation  had  ever  occurred  :  and  all  the 
sacred  writers  follow  and  confirm  Moses.  It  is  certain  that  no 
subsequent  act  of  original  creation  is  intimated  in  the  Scrijjtures 
as  having  occurred  :  and  that  no  proper  creative  person,  or  power, 


450  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

or  force,  lias  ever  existed  in  the  universe,  or  is  conceiveable  by  us, 
except  God  only.  The  Scriptures  abound  with  declarations 
concerning  the  creation  recorded  by  Moses,  of  all  things  out  of 
nothing  in  the  sj>ace  of  six  days  :  they  abound  with  declara- 
tions concerning  the  New  Creation,  by  means  of  which  God's 
spiritual  kingdom  is  brought  forth,  sustained,  and  made  victori- 
ous over  all  things  :  and  they  abound  with  declarations  concern- 
ing the  catastrophe  which  awaits  the  wThole  visible  creation.  But 
they  are  profoundly  silent  touching  those  multitudinous  previous 
creations,  and  that  continuous  subsequent  creation,  concerning 
which  the  most  modern  ignorance,  differs  from  the  most  an- 
cient ignorance,  chiefly  in  that  the  ancient,  in  its  modesty, 
put  forward  as  conjectures,  what  the  modern,  in  its  ostenta- 
tion, puts  forward  as  science.  As  yet,  no  one,  I  believe,  has 
had  the  courage  to  discover  a  fossil  man,  with  whom  to  con- 
front Moses  :  a  very  curious  forbearance  of  creative  nature  and 
her  believing  expositors,  whether  Christian  or  infidel.  And  as 
our  inquiries  relate  almost  exclusively  to  man,  we  may  thank- 
fully accept  the  respite,  and  for  the  present  continue  to  suppose 
that  as  man  really  exists,  it  is  quite  as  capable  of  belief  that  God 
created  him,  as  that  he  created  himself,  came  by  chance,  or  ex- 
isted from  eternity  :  and  that  on  supposition  of  his  being  created 
by  God,  the  proof  of  our  credulity  is  not  humiliating  when  we 
accept  the  veracity  of  God,  pledged  throughout  his  Word,  as  to 
the  time,  the  manner,  the  circumstances,  the  object,  and  the  re- 
sult of  that  creation.1 

2.  The  first  parents  of  our  race,  were  created  in  the  maturity 
and  perfection  of  all  their  faculties,  of  body  and  of  soul  :  and 
they  alone  of  all  their  race,  entered  upon  existence  in  such  a  con- 
dition as  this.  Not  mature  only — but  also  sinless,  the  existence 
into  which  they  thus  bounded,  was  cast  in  a  scene  of  things  un- 
demed  by  sin— unclouded  by  suffering — and  which  God  himself, 
as  he  surveyed  every  thing  he  had  made,  pronounced  to  be  very 
good.  First,  man's  physical  part  was  separately  created  by  God 
■ — dust  of  the  ground  :  and  then  God  breathed  into  his  nostrils 
the  breath  of  life  :  and  man  became  a  living  soul.2  Dust  of  the 
ground  :  the  breath  of  life  :  a  living  soul  :  God  the  author  :  man, 
male  and  female,  the  product.  This  creation,  thus  simply  and 
directly  announced,  is  repeatedly  declared  to  have  been,  in  the 

1  Genesis,  i.  2G-31.  3  Geu.,  ii.  1 ;  1  Cor.,  xr.  45. 


CnAP.  XXX.]  PRIMEVAL     STATE    OF     MAX.  451 

image  and  after  the  likeness  of  God:  that  is,  summarily,  G    ! 
created  a  being,  in  general  resembling  the  divine  being,  and 

ing  a  nature  and  endowments  copied   after  the  nature  and 

perfections  of  God.  There  is  first,  a  physical  organism,  the  most 
perfect,  the  most  wonderful,  the  most  comprehensive,  the  i 
exalted  of  all  the  visible  works  of  God.  This  organism  is 
complete,  that  although  it  has  been  the  special  object  of  scrutiny 
from  its  creation,  and  although  it  is  probably  better  understood 
than  any  other  great  work  of  God,  and  although  every  portion 
of  it  has  yielded  to  the  unremitting  study  of  so  many  centuries 
immense  stores  of  knowledge  :  nevertheless,  the  end  of  complete 
knowledge  is  so  far  from  having  been  reached,  that  scarce  a 
single  organ  can  be  said  to  be  perfectly  understood,  scarce  a 
single  function  of  a  single  part  to  be  thoroughly  comprehended, 
scarce  a  single  tissue  to  be  thoroughly  appreciated.  This  ex- 
quisite organism,  worthy,  if  we  can  presume  to  say  any  thing  is 
worthy,  of  the  workmanship  of  God,  undefilcd  as  yet  by  sin,  was 
animated  by  an  immediate  spiration  from  God — he  breathing 
into  its  nostrils  the  breath  of  life.  Man's  vital  existence  is  not 
the  product  of  his  organism,  nor  necessarily  connected  with  it  : 
but  was  added  by  a  separate  and  most  peculiar  act  of  God,  to 
the  finished  organism  :  and  is  capable  of  continued  connection 
with  the  organism  even  while  it  is  in  a  condition  of  indefinite 
disorganization  and  decay  :  and  is  capable  of  being  separated 
from  it,  while  the  organism  is  in  its  most  perfect  state — and  in 
fact  is  separated  from  it,  by  death,  in  every  case.  What  the 
'nature  of  tin's  vital  principle  is,  is  utterly  inscrutable.  It  is  the 
breath  of  God  communicated  to  the  first  man,  in  an  immediate 
and  creative  act,  and  propagated  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  his 
whole  race.  It  becomes,  in  each  individual,  indissolubly  united 
with  the  spiritual  part  of  man — his  soul — which  seems  to  be  in- 
tended in  calling  man  a  living  soul,  and  seems  to  express  its 
proper  immortality.  This  indissoluble  union  of  the  vital  prin- 
ciple with  the  soul,  explains  the  instant  death,  of  the  body  as 
well  as  the  continued  existence  of  the  soul,  after  the  separation 
of  the  soul  and  body  of  man.  This  living  soul — which  it  is  said 
man  became — is  the  basis  of  his  resemblance  to  God,  and  itself 
the  fundamental  part  of  the  divine  image  which  he  bore,  the 
divine  likeness  in  which  he  had  been  created. 

3.  The  primeval  state  of  man  is  thus  clearly  made  known  to 


452  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

us  by  God.  He  was  created  with  a  perfect  and  exquisite  organ- 
ism, to  which  God  added  a  spiritual  soul,  uniting  indissolubly  to 
the  latter  the  principle  of  life,  which  animated  the  body  also  : 
and  by  these  wonderful  unions  of  two  created  things,  the  body 
and  the  spirit,  and  the  spirated  breath  of  life  from  God,  the  new 
and  glorious  being  stood  before  his  Creator  !  It  is  a  new  spirit, 
endowed  with  a  life  which  shall  never  end,  with  activity  which 
cannot  rest,  with  faculties  in  the  likeness  of  the  Attributes  of 
God,  with  endowments  after  the  image  of  the  Perfections  of  God  ; 
a  new  race,  indeed,  of  spirits  ;  the  absolute  oneness  of  the  race, 
a  vast  image  of  the  oneness  of  God  himself ;  the  distinct  per- 
sonal existence  of  each  member  of  the  race,  as  a  separate  force 
and  yet  an  in  sparable  portion  of  the  one  whole,  like  a  dim  shadow 
of  the  divine  personal  plurality  ;  and  the  very  form  of  the  one- 
ness and  the  plurality  of  the  divine  existence,  as  made  known  to 
us,  the  idea  of  eternal  paternity,  of  eternal  filiation,  and  of  eter- 
nal procession  from  both  to  each  other,  exhibited,  as  far  as  na- 
ture could,  in  the  relations  of  this  new  race  upon  itself — fathers 
and  sons,  in  an  endless  oneness  of  plurality,  endlessly  united  ! 
But  nearest  of  all,  perhaps,  to  the  present  purpose,  man's  prim- 
eval estate  was  in  the  image  and  after  the  likeness  of  that  infi- 
nite Eectitude  of  God  which  is  the  very  essence  of  his  moral 
nature.1  Therefore  we  were  worthy  to  be  called  the  offspring  of 
God,2  to  be  declared  to  be  the  image  and  glory  of  God  ;3  and 
therefore  when  we  put  on  the  new  man  we  are  expressly  said  to 
be  created  after  God  in  righteousness.4  It  was  also  in  the  image 
and  after  the  likeness  of  the  infinite  knowledge  of  God,  and  of 
the  infinite  understanding  and  will  to  which  that  knowledge  is 
related,  and  of  the  infinite  Spiritual  Essence,  to  which  they  all 
appertain.  And  therefore  our  renewal  in  the  image  of  him  that 
created  us  is  declared  to  be  a  renewal  in  knowledge  ;5  a  restora- 
tion produced  by  our  being  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  our  mind  ;° 
a  new  product  of  God's  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus 
unto  the  good  works  which  were  our  original  ordination  ;7  a  new 
bestowment  of  that  eternal  life  which  consisted  originally  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  only  true  God,  and  which  consists  now  in  that 
same  knowledge  divinely  restored,  with  the  knowledge  of  Jesus 
Christ,  whom  God  hath  sent,  divinely  superadded.5     It  was  also 

'Eccl.,  vii.  29.  2  Acts,  xvii.  29.  3 1  Cor.,  xi.  1.  4  Eph.,  iv.  24. 

6  Col.,  iii.  10.  c  Eph.,  iii.  23.  '  Eph.,  ii.  10.  B  John,  xvii.  1-3. 


CHAF.  XXX.]  PRIMEVAL    STATE    OF    MAN.  453 

in  the  image  and  after  the  likeness  of  that  infinite  Perfection  of 
God  which  is  called  true  Holiness  ;  by  which  I  understand  that 
infinite  sanctity  of  God  out  of  which  truth  flows,  and  in  the  per- 
fection of  which  it  is  not  only  said  that  God  is  Trutlt.  as  spoken 
continually  of  the  Godhead,  but  the  same  statement  is  made, 
with  great  emphasis,  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  through 
whom  all  divine  truth  is  brought  nigh  to  us.1  There  was  some- 
thing more  than  Rectitude,  something  more  than  the  Knowledge 
of  God,  the  image  and  likeness  of  which  man  possessed  ;  and 
this  is  expressed  by  a  periphrasis  showing  the  relation  of  these 
two  perfections  to  each  other,  and  the  result  thereof.  Rectitude 
and  Knowledge,  that  is  Righteousness  and  Truth  ;  the  result, 
True  Holiness,  that  is  the  sanctity  which  God's  Truth  found  re- 
sponsive to  it  in  man,  and  which  God's  Truth  now  nourishes  in 
man  :  literally,  the  original  man  was  created,  and  the  new  man 
is  restored,  not  only  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God's  Knowl- 
edge and  Righteousness,  but  of  that  divine  perfection  also,  which 
rests  in  a  peculiar  manner  upon  both  the  others,  and  which  we 
call  true  Holiness.2 

4.  Such  a  condition  as  this — the  chief  features  of  which  only 
have  been  gathered  from  the  statements  of  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
and  set  forth  in  their  most  elemental  form,  is  not  difficult  of  a 
general  appreciation  by  us,  even  in  our  fallen  estate,  much  less 
in  our  recovered  likeness  to  God,  and  above  all  when  we  are  di- 
rected at  every  step  by  the  perpetual  light  of  the  Divine  "Word. 
It  is  very  evident  that  in  our  primeval  condition,  we  were  capa- 
ble of  knowing  and  seeing,  of  loving  and  enjoying  God.  We 
were  the  objects  of  divine  apj>robation,  both  in  our  nature  and 
our  acts  ;  and  were  permitted  to  enjoy  and  did  enjoy,  a  constant 
and  very  near  intercourse  with  God.  We  were  full  of  light  and 
of  blessedness,  and  were  capable  of  immeasurable  advancement 
and  felicity.  We  were  exempt  from  error,  from  sorrow,  and 
from  shame  ;  and  had  no  knowledge  of  disquietude,  or  pain,  or 
sin.  We  were  not  subject  to  sickness,  or  decay,  or  death  ;  and 
no  evil  of  any  sort — physical,  mental,  moral,  or  spiritual  had  any 
place  in  our  being.  We  were  put  in  possession  of  an  endless  life 
of  glory  and  blessedness  ;  and  were  made  capable  both  of  enjoy- 
ing and  preserving  it  for  ourselves,  and  of  perpetuating  it  to  an 
innumerable  race  of  our  own  descendants  through  endless  <rene- 

1  John,  xiv.  G ;  1  John,  v.  6.  Eph.,  iv.  24. 


454  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V 

rations.  In  all  this  career  of  boundless  exaltation  to  ourselves, 
the  universe  itself  would  have  rejoiced  forever  in  the  estate  of 
perfection  in  which  it  came  forth  from  the  hand  of  God,  fash- 
ioned expressly  as  the  habitation  of  a  race  so  glorious  :  and  every 
inferior  creature,  each  after  its  own  hind,  would  have  rejoiced 
always  in  its  satisfying  share  of  that  infinite  goodness  of  God, 
which  was  over  all  his  works.  And  then  to  crown  all,  the  great 
chief  end  of  the  creation,  and  the  great  subordinate  end  of  it, 
would  have  been  perfectly  accomplished,  both  together  :  for  the 
declarative  glory  of  God  would  have  been  permanent  and  eternal 
by  means  of  such  sublime  manifestations  of  himself ;  and  the 
blessedness  of  the  whole  creation  would  have  gone  hand  in  hand 
forevermore,  with  the  boundless  glory  of  God  !  If  we  could 
conceal  from  ourselves,  for  a  moment,  the  manner  in  which  the 
wreck  of  all  this  glory  and  blessedness,  was  repaired  by  the 
grace  of  God  ;  we  could  appreciate  in  a  manner  far  more  just 
and  adequate,  both  that  which  we  and  the  whole  universe  lost 
by  the  fall  of  our  race,  and  that  which  we  and  the  universe  have 
incurred  of  boundless  misery,  through  fearful  guilt. 

5.  Beyond  what  was  involved  in  the  very  nature  of  man, 
and  in  the  very  nature  of  his  original  estate,  and  its  relations  to 
God  and  the  universe  ;  much  was  superadded  by  God,  in  a  way 
of  sovereign  and  merciful  dealing  with  him,  in  immediate  con- 
nection with  his  creation.  Besides  the  divine  attestation  to  the 
whole  creation,  and  to  man  as  the  chief  part  of  it,  that  it  was  all 
very  good,  God  added  his  special  blessing  both  to  the  man  and 
the  woman  :  an  immeasurable  act  of  favor  and  protection — a 
crowning  proof  of  his  love,  wherein  he  appropriated  the  race  to 
himself,  after  the  peculiar  manner  of  God.  All  that  he  had 
made,  and  all  connected  with  it — were  delivered  over  to  a  com- 
mon glory  and  unto  a  common  fruition  :  except  that  two  things 
were  drawn  unto  God  himself  with  a  special  nearness.  Man  his 
chief  work,  he  consecrated  to  himself  by  his  special  blessing ;  and 
the  Sabbath  day,  the  everlasting  memorial  of  what  he  had  done, 
and  the  peculiar  means  of  making  effectual  that  consecration  of 
man — God  blessed  and  sanctified,  as  most  singularly  his  own.1 
Nothing  can  be  more  striking  and  decisive  than  both  of  these 
divine  acts,  so  carefully  recorded  for  everlasting  instruction. 
And  in  the  whole  subsequent  dealings  of  God  with  the  human 

1  Gen.,  L  28,  ii.  3. 


CHAP.  XXX.]  PRIMEVAL     STATE     OF     MAX.  455 

race,  nothing  is  more  distinctly  and  perpetually  kept  before  tlie 
human  mind — nothing  is  more  carefully  placed  in  the  very  front 
of  every  aspect  of  every  dispensation  of  Grace,  than  these  two 
primeval  claims  of  God,  lodged  in  the  very  bosom  of  creation 
itself.  The  race  that  was  made  in  the  image,  and  after  the  like- 
ness of  God  himself,  was  from  the  beginning  a  blessed  race,  con- 
secrated to  God.  "When  he  retrieves  it,  he  reclaims  but  his  own; 
when  even  in  its  desperate  madness  of  sin,  his  unchangeable 
love  answers  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  Son,  it  is  no  new  fervor,  but 
the  inextmgiii>hable  purpose  from  eternity  to  have  a  seed  to 
serve  him  !  And  this  sacred  time  of  God — memorial  alike  of 
creation  and  of  redemption — type  alike  of  primeval,  and  of  re- 
newed, and  of  eternal  fruition  of  God — lodged  in  the  very  heart 
of  natural  Beligion,  before  the  existence  even  of  the  Covenant 
of  Works — embedded  in  the  moral  law  as  the  speciality  of  all 
duty  toward  God,  inseparable  from  Gospel  holiness ;  it  is  unto 
man,  a  proof  that  he  was  once  free  and  holy — a  help  and  joy  to 
his  endeavors  after  perfect  restoration— and  a  token  that  an 
endless  triumph  awaits  him  !  Man  cannot  be  wholly  lost  as  long 
as  these  two  primeval  claims  of  God,  find  a  response  within  him  : 
as  long  as  the  idea  of  his  own  primeval  consecration — and  the  idea 
of  consecrated  time,  as  a  token  thereof — between  him  and  God 
— both  still  asserted  by  God — are  not  wholly  obliterated  from 
his  soul. 

6.  Thus  created  in  God'  .   .  and   thus  consecrated  to 

God's  service,  man  was  divinely  invested  with-  an  absolute  and 
unlimited  dominion  over  the  earth,  and  over  all  things  in  it.1 
Lei  us  make  man  in  our  inia^e,  after  our  likeness,  and  let  them 
have  dominion  ;  these  are  the  words  in  which  the  divine  purpose 
is  announced  :  and  to  the  man  and  the  woman,  after  their  crea- 
tion— have  dominion,  are  the  words  of  the  boundless  investiture. 
Even  the  fell  of  man,  and  the  total  apostaey  and  almost  total  de- 
struction of  the  race,  did  not  extinguish  this  grant :  for  more 
than  sixteen  centuries  after  it  was  made  and  forfeited,  God  de- 
livered to  Xoah  after  he  came  forth  from  the  ark,  all  earthly 
flings,  and  added  as  applicable  even  to  the  fallen  condition  of 
the  race,  that  the  fear  of  man  and  the  dread  of  man  should  be 
upon  them  all.2  At  first,  it  was  a  grant  of  all  things,  not  in 
trust,  but  with  absolute  fulness.     Subdue  the  earth,  use  it.  oc- 

'  Gen.,  i  26-23.  a  Gen.,  ix.  2. 


456  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

cupy  it,  possess  it,  enjoy  it — it  is  thine.  And  then  he  bade  them 
replenish  it  also.  Increase  and  multiply  ;  be  fruitful — subdue — 
replenish.  Fill  the  earth  with  beings  having  this  dominion  over 
it  :  exalted  beings — all  holy  and  wise — all  of  one  blood  and  race 
— all  united  in  boundless  glory,  perfection  and  felicity.  The 
whole  race,  forever,  to  be  one  immeasurable  expanse  of  all  good- 
ness and  all  greatness  :  and  every  individual  of  it  to  be  united 
to  every  other  individual  of  it,  by  ties  which  should  never  be 
broken,  and  by  love  which  should  know  no  interruption.  And 
so  deep  and  so  fixed  were  these  additional  ordinances  of  God, 
both  in  the  divine  purpose  and  in  the  nature  of  man  ;  that  the 
fall  which  produced  a  catastrophe  so  fatal  to  man  and  to  the 
universe,  did  not  extinguish  them.  The  blessing  of  Adam,  was 
reiterated  to  Noah  :  the  dominion  of  the  race  was  re-affirmed  to 
him  :  the  command  to  be  fruitful,  to  multiply  and  to  replenish 
the  earth,  was  repeated  to  him  :  and  the  sacredness  of  his  life 
which  had  borne  the  image  of  God,  was  assured  by  new  guaran- 
ties.1 God  will  find  a  way  to  retrieve  and  to  punish,  the  apos- 
tacy  and  ruin  of  man.  After  a  respite  of  sixteen  centuries,  dur- 
ing which  man  had  shown  himself  to  be  only  evil  and  that 
continually,  the  wrath  of  God  in  its  just  fierceness  swept  away 
the  whole  race,  except  Noah  and  his  household,  in  the  flood  of 
waters.  So  much  was  due  to  God.  And  this  besides,  that  in  re- 
peopling  the  earth,  under  a  second  head,  and  with  a  fallen  race, 
the  principles  which  had  sustained  the  original  fabric  of  the 
moral  universe  when  all  was  pure,  should  be  shown  by  the  power 
of  their  working  when  all  was  corrupt,  to  have  been  infinitely 
complete  and  efficacious  unto  the  end  for  which  they  were  de- 
signed at  first.  Nothing  can  be  more  complete,  than  such  a 
proof  as  this  of  the  glory  and  blessedness  of  the  primeval  state 
of  man.  Let  any  one  consider  the  nature  and  the  force  of  that 
single  idea  of  the  universal  brotherhood  of  man — lost  by  the  fall 
and  restored  in  Jesus  Christ  :  and  he  may  find  opened  to  him 
clearly,  the  method  of  a  general  estimate  of  the  divine  concep- 
tion of  the  glory  and  blessedness  of  our  first  estate,  not  one  sub- 
lime principle  of  which  but  was  pregnant  with  unalterable  truth 
and  boundless  goodness. 

III. — 1.  It  is  manifest  that  out  of  such  a  state  of  things  as  I 
have  described,  there  would  arise  obligations  on  the  part  of  man, 

1  Gen.,  ix.  1-6. 


CHAP.  XXX.]  TRIM  E  V  A  L     STATE     OF    MAN.  457 

corresponding  to  the  relations  which  lie  found  himself  sustain- 
ing, to  the  capacities  with  which  lie  was  endowed,  and  to  the 
blessings  which  were  bestowed  on  him.  The  moment  we 
acknowledge  that  we  are  creatures,  there  arise,  immediately,  the 
ideas  of  dependence  and  obligation  :  for  we  are  his,  who  made 
us.  As  soon  as  we  allow  that  we  arc  rational  and  moral,  we  are 
obliged  to  allow  the  distinctions  of  True  and  False,  Good  and 
Evil  :  for  otherwise  there  would  be  no  possibility  of  exercising, 
much  less  of  showing  the  existence  of,  either  reason  or  conscience. 
The  existence  of  a  creator,  and  at  the  same  time  of  rational  and 
moral  creatures,  involves  the  existence  of  duty  on  the  part  of 
such  creatures.  The  measure  of  the  duty  on  the  one  hand,  and 
on  the  other  of  the  responsibility  if  it  is  not  performed — is  to  be 
sought,  in  the  absence  of  positive  rules,  in  the  respective  con- 
ditions of  all  the  parties,  and  the  particular  relations  of  each. 

2.  In  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  therefore,  it  is  not  possible 
for  such  creatures  to  exist,  otherwise  than  in  a  condition  of  ob- 
ligation and  accountability,  of  some  sort  or  other.  Their  very 
nature  is  at  once  a  law  and  a  proof  unto  them  :  and  the  very 
nature  of  God  is  alike  a  measure  and  a  revelation  of  his  claims 
upon  them.  But  the  claims  of  God  under  such  circumstances, 
and  upon  such  creatures  as  we  have  been  considering — whether 
we  contemplate  God  in  what  he  is  or  in  what  he  has  done  for 
them,  are  perfectly  immeasurable  claims  upon  the  gratitude,  the 
love  and  the  obedience  of  the  creature.  And  on  their  side,  the 
corresponding  obligations  of  the  creatures,  are  only  to  be  limited 
by  their  utmost  capacity  to  please  and  honcc  God,  in  whatever 
way  he  may  indicate  his  pleasure  to  them. 

3.  In  the  event  of  failure  there  must  be  adequate  redress,  of 
some  sort  or  other,  supposing  that  there  is  steadfastness  in  the 
system  under  which  the  failure  occurs,  or  power  or  wisdom  in 
him  who  established  it,  or  justice  or  truth  in  him  who  adminis- 
ters it.  Supposing  all  these  things  to  combine  in  any  one  sys- 
tem, as  they  all  do  in  the  system  of  God's  universe — the  redress 
for  every  failure  of  duty  is  not  only  inevitable,  but  is  inevitably 
certain  to  work  itself  out  as  a  part  of  the  system  itself,  inherent 
in  its  original  constitution,  and  unchangeably  certain  as  the  result 
of  its  progress.  And  the  measure  of  that  redress  is  unavoidably 
determined,  in  like  manner,  by  the  claims  of  God  who  has  been 
offended,  and  by  the  obligations  of  the  creature  which  have  been 


45S  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK    v. 

violated  :  that  is,  by  the  truth  and  rectitude  upon  which  the 
whole  system  is  founded,  and  to  which  the  reason  and  conscience 
of  the  creature  respond. 

4.  Under  such  a  system  as  that  at  the  head  of  which  man 
was  placed,  there  were  no  sins,  as  yet,  to  punish  :  of  course, 
therefore,  there  were  none  to  pardon  :  and  of  course,  once  more, 
there  was  no  such  notion  as  pardon,  possible,  under  it.  A  perfect 
creature  under  a  perfect  system,  administered  by  a  perfect  Euler, 
whose  laws  were  written  on  the  hearts  of  his  subjects,  could 
have  but  one  rule  and  one  reward.  Do  and  live  :  this  embraced 
at  once  all  duty  and  all  felicity. — But,  at  the  same  time,  every 
failure  and  every  shortcoming,  sufficiently  grave  to  involve  re- 
dress, immediately  and  irrecoverably  defeated  the  whole  scheme, 
as  to  every  one  thus  failing.  And  if  instead  of  the  personal  risk 
thus  run  by  each  creature  as  it  might  exist  under  such  a  system, 
the  risk  were  run  all  at  once,  by  the  common  head  of  all  before  any 
of  the  members  existed,  and  as  a  common  representative  of  all  : 
this,  in  the  first  place,  could  only  be  in  consequence  of  a  positive 
divine  constitution  ;  and  in  the  second  place,  if  it  were  so,  by 
virtue  of  such  a  constitution,  it  is  obvious  that  the  result  what- 
ever it  might  be,  wTould  be  as  comprehensive  as  the  constitution 
under  which  it  had  occurred. 

5.  That  a  covenant,  such  as  that  just  intimated,  was  made  by 
God  with  Adam,  we  know,  and  the  result  of  it  :  both  of  which 
will  be  considered  in  their  order.  At  present  we  are  to  observe 
that  before  and  independently  of  any  such  covenant,  the  ordi- 
nances of  God  which  have  been  recapitulated  as  immediately  con- 
nected with  the  creation  of  man,  and  the  relations  which  subsisted 
between  God  and  man  which  have  been  generally  exhibited,  and 
the  very  natures  of  God  and  of  man  which  have  been  summarily 
explained,  unitedly  coerce  a  system  of  the  most  precise  kind,  and 
of  the  most  prodigious  extent.  It  is  not  difficult  to  separate  the 
three  elements  of  such  a  system  above  stated,  and  to  conceive  of 
each  one  of  the  three  as  forming  a  separate  system,  or  the  separ- 
ate parts  of  one  system.  What  is  most  important  is,  that  they 
are  all  necessary,  permanent,  indestructible  elements  of  every 
system  by  which  the  human  race  is  to  be  affected  so  long  as  it 
exists.  Whatever  else  man  may  become,  he  will  never  cease  to 
be  a  creature,  nor  will  God  ever  cease  to  be  his  Creator  :  he  can 
never  cease  to  possess  a  nature  which  was  originally  pure  and 


CHAP.  XXX.]  PKIUEVAL    STATE    OF    MAN.  459 

upright,  and  to  underlie  all  the  consequences,  good  and  evil,  of 
that  primitive  and  imperishable  truth  :  and  so  of  all  the  rest.  It 
is  on  this  account  that  it  is  of  such  vital  importance  to  us,  both 
as  a  decisive  question  of  speculative  truth,  and  as  a  transcendent 
practical  force  in  our  eternal  experience,  to  understand  clearly, 
and  to  appreciate  fully,  what  our  primeval  estate  really  was  an- 
terior to  the  institution  of  the  Covenant  of  Works  by  God. 

6.  From  these  indestructible  elements  of  our  primeval  estate, 
there  results  of  necessity  a  system  of  natural  knowledge,  a  sys- 
tem of  natural  reason,  and  a  system  of  natural  morality  :  or  to 
speak  more  exactly,  a  system  of  man,  having  these  three  aspects, 
which  system  in  every  original  aspect  of  it,  is  simply  and  purely 
of  divine  authority.  For  God  is  the  sum  of  all  the  True  and  all 
the  Good  :  and  man  created  pure  and  upright,  spiritual  and  im- 
mortal, in  God's  image,  would  habitually  and  naturally  cleave  to 
the  True  and  the  Good,  that  is  to  God,  with  all  the  power  of 
his  free,  knowing,  and  loving  nature.  The  forms  of  knowledge 
must  accord  with  the  forms  of  his  understanding  ;  the  Laws  of 
Nature  must  accord  with  the  distinctions  which  he  perceives  to 
exist  between  the  True  and  the  False  :  Natural  Eeligion  is  the 
exposition  of  his  sense  of  the  Good  and  the  Evil.  All  this  seems 
to  be  perfectly  evident,  perfectly  unavoidable.  And  though 
there  may  be  by  subsecpient  catastrophes  immense  degradation  in 
the  estate  of  man,  yet  so  long  as  the  essence  of  his  nature  is  not 
destroyed — so  long  as  his  identical  existence  is  continued — these 
primeval  verities  ajnde  in  that  degree.  Thus  the  Moral  Law, 
written  at  last  by  God  on  tables  of  stone  and  given  to  Moses, 
had  been  written  by  God  on  the  heart  of  Adam  twenty-five  cen- 
turies before.  And  fallen  as  all  men  were,  all  the  time  from 
Adam  to  Moses,  all  men  yet  had  in  their  natures  the  traces  of 
that  law.  And  though  when  God  reproduced  that  law  for  Moses, 
the  Avhole  human  family  united  could  not  have  done  this,  yet 
not  a  human  being  then  or  since,  who  was  not  judicially  blinded, 
could  behold  that  divine  reproduction,  without  recognizing  it  as 
good  even  when  it  condemned  him. 

7.  In  some  respects  this,  like  every  other  subject  that  nearly 
concerns  the  infinite  being  and  eternal  counsel  of  God,  lies  out 
of  the  range  of  our  poor  faculties.  Here,  as  everywhere  else,  it 
behooves  us  to  advance  steadily  to  the  utmost  limit  that  our 
ability  will  reach — to  recognize  the  impassable  barrier  wdien  we 


4G0  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V 

come  distinctly  to  it — and  there  to  Low  our  spirits  in  thankful 
docility  to  him  who  has  led  us  that  far,  and  in  adoring  confi- 
dence that  all  that  is  beyond  is  veil,  since  it  is  all  with  him.  It 
is  good  for  us,  no  doubt,  to  know  as  nearly  as  we  can,  what 
tilings  they  are  we  cannot  know  ;  for  then  we  can  the  more  safely 
strive  for  what  we  may  obtain  ;  and  then,  too,  our  unrest  ought 
to  cease.  Those  aspects  of  this  vast  subject,  therefore,  which  lie 
merely  in  conjecture,  I  have  not  presumed  to  touch  :  and  this  all 
the  more  because  I  desired  to  separate  two  immense  events  which 
appeared  to  me  to  be  wholly  distinct,  but  which  are  usually  con- 
founded in  the  treatment  of  them  ;  the  Primeval  state  of  man, 
namely,  and  the  Covenant  of  Works.  When  that  distinction  is 
firmly  established,  a  new  light  is  thrown  on  the  primitive  condi- 
tion of  our  race,  and  so  on  all  its  subsequent  career  :  and  we  have 
reached  therein  the  furthest  term  of  our  inquiries  in  that  direc- 
tion. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THE  COVENANT  OF  WORKS. 

I.  1.  The  moral  force  of  the  Relation  of  Creator  and  Creature,  considered  of  itself. — 

2.  How  this  condition  is  modified  by  express  Covenant. — 3.  The  Covenant  of 
Works. — 4.  An  Additional  and  most  merciful  Dispensation. — II.  1.  The  Scrip- 
tural Testimonyto  the  facts  of  the  case  (a.)  The  Garden  of  Eden:  (I.)  The  Tree  of 
Life:  (c.)  The  Tree  of  Knowledge:  {■''.)  San  itions  of  tl,  ■  Covenant:  (''.)  General 
Aspect  of  that  Covenant. — 2.  Its  idea  as  a  Covenant  of  Works. — 3.  The  Poster- 
ity of  Adam  expressly  and  unavoidably  involved  hi  this  Covenant. — 4.  Obedi- 
ence, the  single  condition  of  the  Covenant.  — 5.  S  iriptural  Statements  concerning 
the  Tree  of  Life:  (a.)  Man,  as  a  sinner,  is  deprived  of  its  Use:  (b.)  Its  relation  to 
man  considered  as  penitent  and  righteous:  (c.)  Its  relation  to  the  Cherubim:  (d.) 
To  victorious  Saint- :  (e.)  To  the  New  Jerusalem:  (/.)  To  the  endless  Blessedness 
of  the  righteous:  (g.)  To  the  general  Development  of  Salvation. — G.  Scriptural 
Statements  concerning  the  Tree  of  Knowledge. — 7.  Sacraments  of  the  Covenant 
of  Works. — 8.  The  inherent  nature  of  every  Dispensation  merely  Legal. — 9.  The 
Covenant  of  Works  was  a  Covenant  of  Life,  with  transcendent  promises. — 10. 
Nature  and  bearing  of  the  penalty  annexed  to  it. — III.  1.  Eve.  Duty.  The 
Moral  Law. — 2.  The  conception  of  Man,  on  -which  the  Covenant  of  Works  rests. 

3.  The  fallibility  of  dependent  creatures.  The  peril,  and  yet  the  divine  mercy  of 
Adam's  trial. — 1.  The  Sovereignty  of  God  and  the  Dependence  of  tho  creature, 
fundamental  in  the  nature  of  Religion. — 5.  In  so  far  as  the  Covenant  of  Works 
modified  the  Primeval  condition  of  Man,  it  was  in  divine  Mercy,  and  to  our  ad- 
vantage :  (a.)  The  violation  of  the  moral  Unity  of  tho  race  was  averted :  (b.)  The 
probation  of  the  race  became  specific,  temporar}-,  exact,  instead  of  being  perpet- 
ual, universal,  indefinite:  (c.)  The  immense  personal  advantages  of  Adam,  inured 
to  the  benefit  of  his  race  :  (*/.)  The  trial  itself,  was  the  lightest  that  can  bo  con- 
ceived of:  (e.)  The  probability  of  Adam's  success,  greater  than  that  of  any  other 
human  being:  (/.)  Every  objection  to  this  trial,  is  reducible  to  one  directly  against 
creation,  providence,  or  grace. — G.  Immutability  of  the  ultimate  elements  of  Re- 
ligion.  Those  most  important  stated,  generalby:  (a.)  Special  example,  Tho  prin- 
ciple of  Positive  Covenant — Headship — Substitution — Imputation:  (b.)  Fitness 
for  the  Favor  of  Gcd  must  exiet,  to  justify  the  continuance  of  that  favor. 

I. — 1.  If  God  had  placed  man  upon  no  particular  trial,  man 
would  have  been  upon  a  universal  and  perpetual  trial.  If  God 
had  affixed  no  particular  penalty  to  any  particular  transgression, 
there  would  nevertheless,  have  been  an  adequate  penalty  con- 
nected with  every  transgression.     Because  there  was,  as  has  been 


462  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

abundantly  shown,  in  the  very  nature  of  man,  of  God,  and  of 
the  relations  between  them  considered  as  creator  and  creature, 
that  which  had  all  the  force  of  the  most  positive  laws,  and  conse- 
quences as  inevitable  as  the  most  distinct  covenant  could  provide. 

2.  It  pleased  God  to  modify  this  condition.  He  did  it  in  in- 
finite wisdom  and  goodness,  and  with  the  design  of  consummat- 
ing man's  estate  of  innocence  and  perfection.  He  reduced  this 
general  state  of  things  to  a  speciality  :  concentrated  the  trial  of 
man's  universal  obedience,  upon  one  special  proof  of  it.  Still 
farther,  it  pleased  God  in  his  great  grace,  to  put  the  whole  race 
upon  trial,  in  its  great,  original,  representative  head  ;  to  particu- 
larize the  exact  redress  which  would  be  exacted,  in  case  of  trans- 
gression ;  to  add  and  to  express  a  great  reward  in  case  of  obe- 
dience ;  to  reduce  the  whole  case  to  a  distinct  statement,  and  to 
communicate  it  clearly  to  Adam,  in  the  form  of  a  positive  cove- 
nant with  him. ' 

3.  This  is  what  is  commonly  known  in  all  Christian  Theology 
as  the  Covenant  of  Works.  It  is  often  called  the  old  covenant, 
as  being  the  first  explicit  covenant  made  by  God  with  man.  It 
is  also  called  the  Legal  Covenant,  to  distinguish  it  from  every 
manifestation  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  ;  though  it  was  itself  a 
most  gracious  covenant,  after  its  peculiar  manner.  And  it  is 
called  the  Sinaitic  Covenant  because  it  was  from  Mount  Sinai 
that  the  eternal  and  immutable  law  of  God,  written  first  by  him 
upon  the  soul  of  man,  was  written  a  second  time  by  bis  finger  on 
tables  of  stone,  and  proclaimed  openly  from  heaven  as  the  uni- 
versal rule  of  rectitude,  and  the  sum  of  the  moral  law.2  This 
multiplicity  of  names  however  indicates  some  danger  of  indis- 
tinct conception  of  a  subject  which  it  is  of  the  last  importance 
to  understand  clearly. 

4.  The  whole  of  the  preceding  chapter  is  based  on  the  idea 
that  the  covenant  of  works  was  a  separate  and  distinct  dispensation 
of  God  toward  man,  in  the  estate  in  which  he  was  created,  and 
blessed,  and  invested  with  dominion,  and  commanded  to  subdue 
and  replenish  the  earth,  and  made  acquainted  with  the  hallowed 
rest  of  the  Sabbath  day.3  It  was  a  further  and  additional  exhib- 
ition of  God's  infinite  goodness  to  man.  It  followed,  it  accepted, 
and,  in  that  manner,  it  embraced  whatever  had  gone  before  ;  but 

1  Gen.,  ii.  8-17  ;  Hosea,  vi.  7  ;  Rom.,  iii.  27,  x.  5. 

a  Ex.,  xx.  3-18;  Mat.,  xxii.  37-40.  3Gen.,  i.  27,  ii.  3. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]         THE     COVENANT    OF     WORKS.  4G3 

it  stipulated  nothing  that  had  gone  before  ;  it  stipulated  nothing 
hut  what  was  new.  Its  conditions  were  revealed,  not  natural 
conditions  ;  its  promises  were  positive,  not  inherent  ;  its  penalty 
was  expressly  regulated,  not  lci't  to  the  infinite,  unuttered  discre- 
tion of  God.  As  to  what  had  already  taken  place,  it  was  all 
immutable,  all  eternal,  all  to  he  taken  fur  granted  in  every  con- 
ceivable Dispensation  of  God  toward  man  afterwards  to  occur, 
so  long  as  man  continued  to  possess  a  conscious,  identical  exist- 
ence, and  to  occupy  any  state  of  probation.  So  taken,  it  is  all  a 
part  of  the  Covenant  of  Works  ;  so  it  is  also  of  the  Covenant  of 
Grace;  differently,  no  doubt,  in  the  two  covenants,  in  some 
respects  very  differently.  But  both  covenants,  and  their  results, 
are  as  distinguishable  from  creation,  and  its  immediate  conse- 
quence, as  they  are  from  each  other.  A  new  and  most  gracious 
form  of  probation  was  proclaimed  by  God. 

II. — 1.  The  statement  of  the  case,  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
concerning  the  origin,  nature,  and  provisions  of  the  Covenant  of 
Works,  is  very  precise  ;  and  every  part  of  the  Divine  Word 
takes  for  granted  the  reality  of  that  covenant,  and  the  perpetuity 
of  its  consequences,  using  the  word  consequences  in  its  largest 
sense,  while  many  passages  of  that  word  treat  the  subject  ex- 
pressly. The  passages  already  cited,  and  those  which  will  follow, 
confirm  these  statements.  Summarily,  the  main  facts  are  these, 
namely : 

(a)  After  the  creation  of  man,  and  in  addition  to  all  that 
was  involved  therein,  and  also  in  those  great  commands,  mercies, 
and  gifts  bestowed  on  him  in  direct  connection  with  creation  in 
God's  image,  God  prepared  a  garden  in  Eden,  and  put  therein 
the  man  whom  he  had  formed  to  dress  it  and  to  keep  it.1 

(b)  The  garden  of  Eden  contained  every  fair,  pleasant,  and 
fruitful  tree,  and  amongst  them,  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  the 
Tree  of  Life.  Divine  permission,  in  the  form  of  a  command,  was 
expressly  given  to  Adam,  to  cat  freely  of  every  tree  of  the  garden, 
except  one,  which  was  distinctly  named,  and  which  excepted  tree 
was  not  the  Tree  of  Life  ;  so  that  the  access  of  man  was  com- 
plete, and  permission  unlimited,  to  eat  the  fruit  of  the  Tree  of 
Life.  Indeed  the  form  of  the  grant  being,  by  way  of  command, 
and  its  substance,  "  eating  thou  shalt  eat,"  involved  the  idea  of  a 
perpetual,  universal,  successive  right,  duty,  and  use  in  man  to 

'Gen.,  il  S-15. 


464  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

Eden,  and  all  its  fruits,  omitting  the  one  prohibited,  and  includ- 
ing the  Tree  of  Life.1 

(c)  The  prohibition  was  explicit  and  single.  In  the  midst 
of  the  garden  was  the  Tree  of  the  Knowledge,  of  Good  and  Evil. 
"  Thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it,"  was  the  express  command  of  God. 
"  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither  shall  ye  touch  it" — is  the  form 
in  which  Eve  understood  and  repeated  the  prohibition.2 

(d)  The  sanction  affixed  by  God  both  to  the  command  which 
carried  the  right  and  duty  of  man  to  use  the  fruit  of  the  Tree  of 
Life;  and  to  the  command  which  prohibited  to  him  the  use  of 
the  fruit  of  the  Tree  of  Knoivledge  of  Good  and  Evil;  were  the 
very  highest  that  can  be  conceived  of.  The  penalty  was  ex- 
pressed in  these  words,  "For  in  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof, 
thou  shalt  surely  die."3  The  reward,  if  we  may  so  express  it — the 
promise  annexed  to  the  keeping  of  the  two  forestated  commands 
of  God,  was  man's  confirmation  in  his  state  of  perfection,  and  an 
assured  inheritance  of  everlasting  life.4 

(e)  Whatever  we  may  endeavor  to  persuade  ourselves  was 
the  design,  the  nature,  the  implied  compass,  conditions  or  results 
of  the  covenant  of  works;  if  we  may  confide  in  the  statements 
of  the  divine  word,  and  if  we  are  able  to  gather  up  the  exact 
outline  of  these  statements,  here  is  the  covenant  itself  set  before 
us.  It  was  a  dispensation  of  God  to  man  ;  following  man's  crea- 
tion in  the  image  of  God  ;  synchronous  with  man's  abode  in  the 
garden  prepared  for  him  by  God  ;  anterior  to  the  existence  of 
any  of  the  human  race  but  Adam  and  Eve  ;  the  terms  of  which 
were  few  and  simple  ;  the  sanctions  of  which  were  infinite  and 
eternal  both  ways  ;  the  immediate  effect  of  which  was  to  test 
man's  obedience  to  God  ;  and  the  method  of  that  test  two- 
fold— namely  to  partake  of  the  fruit  of  the  Tree  of  Life,  and  to 
reject  the  fruit  of  the  Tree  of  the  Knoivledge  of  Good  and  Evil. 
It  will  be  our  surest  way  of  comprehending  all  this  more  precisely 
— to  consider  in  succession  all  the  capital  elemental  ideas,  which 
enter  into  the  case  ;  separating,  as  we  proceed,  such  as,  strictly 
speaking,  cannot  be  so  taken. 

2.  We  need  not  hesitate  with  the  church  of  God  in  all  ages, 
and  with  God  himself  by  the  mouth  of  inspired  men  to  call  this 

1  Gen.,  ii.  9-1G.  "  Gen.,  ii.  17,*  iii.  3. 

3  Gen.,  ii.  17.  4  Lev.,  xviii.  5  ;    Mat.,  xis.  1G,  17. 

*    mtn    Mha  :  Dying  thou  shalt  die. 


CnAP.  XXXI.]         THE    COVENANT    OF    WORKS.  4G5 

Divine  Dispensation,  a  covenant  between  God  and  Adam  ;  nor 
to  add,  that  it  was  a  covenant  of  ivorks.  We  are  told  in  so 
many  words  that  Adam  broke  covenant  with  God  ;  a  passage 
Bomewhat  obscured  to  the  English  reader,  by  an  erroneous  ren- 
dering.1 And  indeed  there  is  no  way  in  which  we  can  under- 
stand the  innumerable  assertions,  that  the  covenant  of  Redemp- 
tion is  either  new  or  better,  as  compared  with  all  that  had  been 
manifested  before  it  was  manifested  ;  or  that  the  Gospel  state  is 
new  or  letter  as  an  exhibition  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  than  all 
preceding  manifestations  of  that,  and  all  other  covenants  :  if  in- 
deed no  other  covenant  had  existed.2  As  to  this  being  a  cov- 
enant of  works;  that  is  manifest  on  the  face  of  the  whole  matter. 
For  the  required  obedience  manifested  by  outward  acts — and  in 
its  own  nature  performed  by  Adam  himself — and  performed  per- 
fectly, or  not  at  all,  could  have  no  other  nature,  in  his  case. 
Whatever  might  be  Adam's  relations  to  his  posterity — which 
will  be  considered  presently,  it  is  very  obvious  that  to  derive  any 
benefit  cither  to  them  or  himself  under  such  a  covenant,  he  can- 
not plead  either  an  imperfect  obedience  of  his  own,  or  a  vicar- 
ious obedience  of  any  one  else  ;  both  of  which,  it  is  conceivable 
that  his  posterity  might  have  plead  before  the  infinitely  good  God, 
under  this  very  covenant  if  Adam  had  received  its  reward  ;  and 
both  of  which  it  is  certain,  we  all  must  plead  under  Christ  and 
the  covenant  of  Grace,  or  all  perish.  But  Adam's  individual 
work  could  no  more  be  any  thing  else — but  a  personal  and  per- 
fect work,  than  Christ's  individual  work  could  be  ;  and  the 
covenant  of  Works,  as  a  covenant  of  life,  was  staked  on  the  per- 
sonal and  perfect  obedience  of  Adam — exactly  as  the  covenant 
of  Grace  as  a  covenant  of  Life,  was  staked  on  the  obedience — 
even  unto  death — of  the  Son  of  God.  In  reality,  as  I  have  be- 
fore pointed  out,  we  can  form  no  conception  of  a  created  and 
dependent  being  standing  related  to  our  infinite  Creator  and 
Ruler — which  does  not  involve  the  ideas  of  law  and  covenant. 
And  when  these  ideas  become  positive  and  specific,  they  carry 
with  them,  always,  something  added  in  the  way  of  mercy  on  the 
part  of  God,  and  of  benefit  to  the  creature.  This  reaches  its 
height  in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  in  our  room  and  stead. 

3.  It  is  perfectly  certain  that  the  whole  posterity  of  Adam, 
descending  from  him  by  ordinary  generation,  were  intended  to  be 

1  Hosca,  vi.  7,  riii.  1.  '  Jer.,  xxxi.  31-10;   Heb.,  viii.  6-13. 

30 


466  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V 

involved,  were  actually  involved,  and  could  not  bnt  be  involved, 
in  the  result  of  this  great  trial  of  the  first  progenitor  and  federal 
head  of  his  race.  Yet  it  is  equally  clear  that  these  results  all 
depend  upon  the  one  fact  of  there  being  a  positive,  and  not  a 
virtual  covenant  between  God  and  Adam,  as  I  have  before  ex- 
plained.  It  is  therefore,  clear,  that  the  more  strictly  we  distin- 
guish between  the  Law  of  Nature,  properly  so  called,  and  the 
covenant  of  ivorks;  the  more  certain  it  is  that  the  Moral  Law 
must  survive  both  the  keeping  and  the  breach  of  the  covenant 
of  works,  and  that  the  whole  human  race  must  underlie  the  curse 
and  the  penalty  of  that  Covenant,  if  it  be  broken — and  must 
reap  its  promises  if  it  be  kept.  The  question  here  is,  nakedly, 
as  to  the  range  of  the  covenant.  To  suppose  that  it  embraced 
Adam  only,  is  to  suppose  that  it  was  a  divine  contrivance  whoso 
only  certain  effect  would  be  to  separate  Adam  from  all  his  pos- 
terity ;  which,  in  that  case  it  was  obliged  to  do,  let  it  end  as  it 
might.  And  the  total  object  of  that  most  preposterous  result, 
would  seem  to  be  to  reverse  by  a  divine  constitution,  the  order 
of  nature  just  before  established  in  the  work  of  creation.  For  by 
it,  the  unity  of  the  human  race  and  the  steadfastness  of  the  whole 
universe  were  made  to  depend  upon  the  uniformity  of  causa- 
tion :  now  expressly  and  doubly  violated — upon  the  hypothesis 
— in  the  very  nature  of  man,  who  is  the  chief  work  of  God.  Is 
it  possible  for  us  to  suppose  the  whole  work  of  Christ  to  have 
been  absolutely  fruitless,  with  regard  to  every  human  soul  but 
that  of  the  Man  Jesus  ?  Then  how  are  we  to  suppose  a  similar 
absurdity  of  him  who  was  his  type  ?  Moreover,  what  is  gained 
by  denying  Adam's  Federal  Headship,  and  then  polluting  us  all, 
by  merely  natural  means,  to  which  we  were  no  party,  in  any 
sense  ?  As  both  the  common  progenitor  and  the  common  rep- 
resentative of  all,  A»  am's  position,  as  the  root  of  the  human 
race,  explains  all.  And  to  this  intent,  and  by  means  of  this 
covenant,  is  the  whole  current  of  divine  testimony.1 

4.  The  condition — the  solitary  condition — of  the  covenant  of 
ivorks,  was  obedience  ;  covenanted  obedience — for  himself  and 
for  all  his  posterity,  by  Adam.  Observe,  Adam  was  yet  inno- 
cent— perfect — but  fallible  ;  and  God  had  before  this  covenant, 
and  independently  of  it — exercised  toward  him  all  those  great 
acts  of  providence,  up  to   the  placing  him  in  Eden — of  which 

1  Acts,  xvii.  26 ;  Rom.,  v.  12,  19 ;  1  Cor.,  xv.  21,  22,  45-49. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  TUE    COVENANT     OF     WORKS.  407 

repeated  mention  has  been  made.  Naturally,  as  lias  been  re- 
peatedly said,  the  understanding  of  this  exalted  image  of  God 
went  forth  to  all  that  was  True — his  will  to  all  that  was  Good — 
and  both  with  all  the  power  of  his  pure  Nature.  That  is  only 
to  say,  in  other  words,  it  was  the  pure,  incessant  and  powerful 
impulse  of  his  nature  to  love,  to  obey,  and  to  enjoy  God — as  the 
sum  of  all  the  True  and  the  Good.  It  is  not  very  easy  for  us  to 
see  how  such  a  being  as  this  could  be  put  on  any  trial  at  all — 
except  as  touching  some  act  of  outward  obedience — founded 
upon  some  positive  command.  At  any  rate  the  condition  of  the 
Covenant  of  Works  adopted  by  God  was  exactly  of  this  kind. 
Still  however  it  touched  Life  on  one  side,  and  Good  and  Evil  on 
the  other  :  those  eternal,  and  inscrutable  realities  !  And  these 
sublime  relations  of  the  command  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
prohibition  on  the  other,  made  the  obedience  of  Adam  all  the 
more  natural,  as  the  test  leaned  over  from  a  mere  positive  char- 
acter, toward  some  accordance  with  the  high  instincts  of  his  own 
spirit.  It  cannot  be  disputed  amongst  Christians,  that  the  pro- 
hibition to  eat  the  fruit  of  the  Tree  of  Knowledge  of  Good  and 
Evil,  was  most  precise;  because  in  this  part  of  the  trial  of  Adam's 
obedience,  the  words  of  God  are  express.1  It  is  without  suffi- 
cient warrant  that  the  command  of  God  touching  the-  use  of  the 
fruit  of  the  Tree  of  Life,  is  construed  into  a  mere  permission.2 
We  shall  see  that  its  use  was  a  high  and  sacred  duty;  it  was  the 
positive  side  of  man's  obedience.  And  if  it  were,  permitted  to  us 
to  assert  that  he  could  have  won  the  eternal  life  set  before  him, 
perhaps  it  would  be  proper  to  add  that  the  sacramental  use  of 
the  Tree  of  Life  was  the  appointed  means  of  his  triumph. 

5.  Concerning  the  Tree  of  Life,  what  has  been  already  said 
amounts  to  this,  namely  :  that  it  was  in  the  midst  of  the  gar- 
den of  Eden — that  Adam  not  only  had  free  access  to  its  fruit. 
and  the  clearest  intimation  of  the  importance  of  its  use,  but  ail 
this  was  introduced  with  a  divine  command  :  that  both  the  form 
and  substance  of  God's  covenant  with  Adam,  involved  the  habitual, 
hereditary,  perpetual,  and  covenanted  use  of  the  fruit  of  the  Tree 
of  Life,  by  man.3  The  Scriptures  speak  with  great  frequency  and 
distinctness  of  the  Tree  of  Life.  The  most  remarkable  state- 
ments concerning  it,  which  throw  light  upon  the  subject  now 
under  consideration,  may  be  digested  under  the  following  heads  ; 
1  Gen.,  ii.  17  2  Gen.,  ii.  9,  16.  s  Gen.,  ii.  8-17. 


468  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V, 

(a)  That  man  considered  as  a  sinner,  is  absolutely  deprived 
of  its  use  :  his  moral  condition  after  the  fall,  and  considered  with 
reference  to  his  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  being  wholly  incom- 
patible with  its  use  ;  an  immortality  of  sin  and  misery  being  the 
only  effect  of  its  use  by  such  creatures.1 

(b)  That  to  the  penitent  and  the  righteous  divine  Wisdom 
and  true  Holiness,  are  as  the  Tree  of  Life.2 

(c)  That  God  hath  placed  Cherubim,  and  a  flaming  sword  to 
keep  the  way  of  the  Tree  of  Life.3  A  wonderful  proof,  that  eter- 
nal life,  no  longer  attainable  by  man's  obedience,  was  attainable 
through  God's  mercy.4 

{d)  That  Christ  Jesus  will  give  to  every  victorious  saint — to 
eat  of  the  Tree  of  Life  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  Paradise  of 
God.6  Nay  this  immortal  gift,  is  the  first  and  the  foundation 
of  all  the  immeasurable  fruits  of  endless  triumph,  which  he  who 
hath  the  keys  of  death  and  hell,  proclaimed  through  the  beloved 
Apostle  to  be  the  inheritance  of  "  him  that  overcometh." 

(e)  That  in  the  midst  of  the  street  of  the  New  Jerusalem, 
which  is  paved  with  pure  gold,  transparent  as  glass  ;  and  on 
both  sides  of  the  river  of  the  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  pro- 
ceeding out  of  the  Throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  ;  stands 
the  Tree  of  Life,  bearing  twelve  manner  of  fruits,  yielding  fruit 
every  month,  and  the  leaves  of  the  Tree  are  for  the  healing  of 
the  Nations.6 

(/)  That  a  large  part  of  the  blessedness  of  those  who  keep 
the  commandments  of  God,  consists  in  their  right  to  the  Tree 
of  Life  and  their  free  and  abundant  access  to  it,  through  those 
gates  each  one  of  which  was  a  separate  pearl,  into  that  city  built 
c£  gold  which  came  down  from  God  out  of  heaven  ;  and  from 
which  are  eternally  excluded  all  the  enemies  of  God.7 

(g)  In  a  word,  however  our  ignorance,  stupidity,  and  de- 
pravity, may  incline  us  to  treat  as  unmeaning,  insignificant  and 
unworthy  of  the  majesty  of  God,  the  symbols  of  his  original 
dealings  with  our  race,  in  the  way  of  an  express  covenant ;  it  is 
perfectly  manifest  from  the  whole  tenor  of  Scripture,  that  God 
himself  -held  the  matter  in  a  widely  different  estimation.  Eter- 
nal Life— and  good  and  evil — and  God's  covenants  concerning 
the  whole  scope  of  both ;  in  one  sense — these  are  mysteries — 

Gen.,  iii.  22.  "  Pro  v.,  iii.  18,  xi.  30.  3  Gen.,  iii.  24. 

4  Exod,  xxv.  17-22..        s  Rev.,  ii.  t.        6  Rev.,  xxii.  1,  2.        7  Rev.,  xxii.  13-15. 


CHAI\  XXXI.]         THE    COVENANT    OF    WORKS.  4G9 

but  they  are  sublime  mysteries.  And  the  great  current  of  di- 
vine truth,  so  far  from  obliterating  any  vestige  by  winch  they 
can  be  made  more  distinct  ;  heaves  up  more  and  more  conspic- 
uously as  it  -widens  and  deepens,  even  to  the  end,  whatever,  from 
the  very  beginning,  had  any  permanent  connection  with  the  eter- 
nal purpose  of  his  will. 

6.  Concerning  the  Tree  of  Knoiolcdge  of  Good  and  Evil,  the 
direct  declarations  of  the  Scriptures  have  already  been,  in  great 
part,  stated,  and  may  be  summarily  recapitulated  thus  :  that  it 
like  the  Tree  of  Life,  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  : 
that  Adam  had  continual  and  free  access  to  it  :  that  the  eating 
of  the  fruit  of  it  was  the  only  prohibition  laid  on  him  :  that 
he  was  expressly  forbidden  to  eat  that  fruit :  that  he  was  dis- 
tinctly informed  that  the  result  of  his  disobedience  would  be  ut- 
terly fatal  :  that  both  the  form  and  substance  of  the  covenant 
with  him  would  involve  all  his  posterity  in  the  ruin  his  disobe- 
dience would  bring  on  himself :  that  intimations  he  could  not 
misunderstand  were  made  to  him,  that  the  command  to  eat  of 
the  Tree  of  Life  and "  the  prohibition  to  cat  of  the  Tree  of 
Knowledge  of  Good  and  Evil,  though  positive  precepts,  had  an 
infinite  relevancy  to  the  very  essence  of  his  nature  and  his  des- 
tiny :  and  that  the  knowledge  prohibited  to  him  was  incompat- 
ible with  the  exalted  form  of  life  he  then  possessed,  and  with 
the  still  more  exalted  form  of  life  offered  to  him  by  this  cov- 
enant.1 The  statement  of  the  Scriptures  bearing  indirectly  upon 
the  subject,  are  nearly  innumerable  ;  some  of  which  will  be  ex- 
amined. In  the  mean  time  we  must  observe  that  the  fall  of  man 
brought  the  whole  matter  into  a  concrete  form,  in  which  the 
subject  was  to  be  dealt  with  practically,  and  in  which  all  merely 
didactic  expositions  were  superseded  by  the  fearful  reality,  as  it 
stood  palpably  before  the  universe.  It  is  this  which  causes  the 
difference  of  treatment  observable  in  the  Scriptures,  after  the  fall 
of  man,  of  the  question  of  the  Tree  of  Life  and  that  of  the  Tree 
of  Knowledge.  The  one  has  accomplished  the  ruin  to  which  it 
was  competent  :  and  that  ruin  is  before  our  eyes.  The  other 
remains  as  a  type  of  the  blessedness  we  have  forfeited,  and  will 
recover  through  a  better  covenant  and  a  more  glorious  head. 

7.  We  are  in  the  habit  of  connecting  the  idea  of  a  Sacrament 
with  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  chiefly  if  not  exclusively.     There  is 

1  Gea,  ii.  8-17. 


470  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

no  reason  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  none  is  intimated  in  the 
Scriptures,  why  every  Covenant  of  God  with  man,  should  not  be 
equally  fit  to  be  held  forth  in  sacred  ordinances,  which  should  be 
signs  and  seals  of  it.  I  do  not  see  that  the  Sabbath  day,  or  the 
garden  of  Eden  which  some  have  considered  Sacraments  of  the 
Covenant  of  Works,  can  be  so  accepted.  The  former  as  I  have 
shown  in  another  place,  did  not  appertain  to  the  Covenant  of 
Works — but  to  the  primeval  consecration  of  man  himself  to  God, 
and  to  that  universal  and  immutable  law  of  his  being  which  is 
the  basis  of  all  religion  ;  God  by  a  singular  providential  act  ante- 
rior to  the  Covenant  of  Works,  having  instituted  this  sacred  and 
perpetual  ordinance  as  expressive  at  once  of  man's  nature  and 
obligations,  and  of  God's  nature,  works,  and  dominion.  In  like 
manner  the  Garden  of  Eden,  whether  considered  as  the  habita- 
tion of  man,  the  scene  of  his  trial  and  fall,  or  a  type  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  or  of  heaven  itself ;  cannot  be  considered  a  Sacra- 
ment. The  case  is  different  with  the  Tree  of  Life  and  the  Tree 
of  Knowledge.  Both  of  them — the  former  perhaps  somewhat 
more  obviously  than  the  latter — may  be  considered  both  signs 
and  seals  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  and  therefore  Sacraments. 
They  were  both  perpetual  admonitions  and  remembrancers  of  the 
probation  our  first  parents  were  passing  through,  and  of  the  Life 
and  Death  that  waited  on  the  issue.  One  of- them  was  a  means 
of  strength,  by  the  participation  of  it  :  similar  to  the  use  of  the 
Sacrament  of  the  Passover  or  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  other  by 
the  prohibition  of  it,  the  sight  of  it,  and  the  refusal  of  it,  a 
means  of  strength  also  :  unlike  any  other  known  Sacrament,  but 
yet  most  appropriate  to  the  peculiar  covenant — to  which  it  ap- 
pertains. Taken  together,  they  taught  and  enforced  precisely 
the  essence  of  the  truth  of  which  they  were  signs  and  seals  ;  and 
this  is  the  very  essence  of  a  proper  sacrament.  They  taught  that 
there  were  two  conditions  to  which  man  was  liable  :  one,  namely, 
of  present  blessedness  and  glory,  capable  of  being  unspeakably 
augmented  :  the  other  of  mixed  good  and  evil,  in  which  the  evil 
would  gain  against  the  good  forever,  and  which  could  end,  if  left 
to  itself,  only  in  the  eternal  ruin  of  the  whole  race.  They  taught 
and  enforced,  moreover,  that  man  was  precisely  then  passing 
through  the  ordeal  which  was  to  decide  between  these  two 
estates  :  and  their  united  force  was,  a  ceaseless  urgency  that  he 
should  know  and  possess  the  one,  and  that  he  should  not  seek  to 


CHAP.  XXXI.]         THE    COVENANT    OF    WORKS.  471 

know  and  make  trial  of  the  other,  but  should  shun  and  reject  it. 
The  inward  desire  for  the  one  state,  and  the  inward  repugnance 
to  the  other  state — were  as  near  as  could  be,  answerable  to  these 
outward  signs. 

8.  It  remains  to  examine  more  carefully  the  sanctions  an- 
nexed to  this  covenant :  the  penalty  if  it  should  be  broken — the 
reward  if  it  should  be  kept.  In  general  it  is  true,  that  while  no 
legal  dispensation  can  exist,  or  be  conceived  of  without  adequate 
penalties  for  transgression,  on  the  other  hand  it  does  not  apper- 
tain to  such  dispensations  to  bestow  upon  obedience  any  other 
reward  than  such  as  appertains  to  the  obedience  itself.  All  law 
in  its  own  nature,  simply  approves,  acquits,  applauds  the  right- 
eous ;  for  it  is  a  rule  of  rectitude  prescribing  and  defining  that 
which  is  of  itself  right — duty,  and  which  all  men  were  already 
morally  obliged  to  do  ;  or  where  it  goes  further  than  this,  it  is  a 
rule  of 'positive  obligation,  prescribing  such  things,  indifferent  in 
their  moral  nature,  as  those  who  have  the  right  to  prescribe,  judge 
to  be  of  themselves,  advantageous.  Whatever  advantage  can 
exist  or  result  in  such  cases,  is  in  the  obedience  itself,  and  neither 
is  nor  can  be  more  than  its  own  natural  fruit ;  that  is,  it  is  not 
properly  of  the  nature  of  a  reward.  On  the  other  hand,  trans- 
gression is,  in  its  own  nature,  not  only  the  violation  of  duty,  but 
the  perpetration  of  wrong  ;  and  therefore  every  transgressor  not 
only  deserves  punishment,  but  the  possibility  of  the  continuance 
of  any  dispensation  of  law,  depends  on  its  preventing  or  re- 
dressing transgression.  If  Adam  had  never  lost  his  primeval 
condition,  but  had  kept  exactly  every  law  of  his  nature,  his  na- 
ture and  his  condition  would  nevertheless  have  remained  forever 
as  they  were  at  first :  but  if  he  had  violated  any  law  of  his  nature, 
there  was  no  possibility  of  his  escaping  the  consequences  of  that 
violation :  and  these  consequences  would  have  been  strictly  pe- 
nal, just  so  far  as  they  were  unalterably  connected  with  the  trans- 
gression, whether  naturally  or  by  some  positive  law  of  God.  It 
seems,  therefore,  altogether  impossible  that  the  Covenant  of 
Works  should  have  been  made  with  Adam,  if  it  did  not  contem- 
plate some  favorable  change  in  his  previous  condition  :  some  re- 
sult to  which  no  merely  legal  dispensation  was  adequate.  No 
greater  penalty  could  exist  than  the  one  affixed  by  God  to  this 
Covenant,  so  that  in  that  respect,  nothing  was  gained  by  Adam. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  no  positive  reward  in  case  of  continued 


472 


THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


obedience  had  been  added  to  the  natural  fruit  of  the  obedience 
itself,  in  this  respect  also,  Adam  could  gain  nothing.  But  in 
fact,  this  covenant  was  an  act  of  infinite  goodness  and  mercy, 
and  not  a  nugatory,  much  less  a  harsh  dealing  of  God  with  the 
creature  whom  he  had  already  so  greatly  honored  and  blessed. 
"We  are  therefore  to  seek  in  both  sanctions  of  the  covenant,  both 
in  its  reward  promised  and  its  penalty  threatened,  and  especially 
in  the  former,  for  evidences  of  God's  gracious  intentions,  similar 
to  those  we  have  seen  pervade  every  other  part  of  this  wonderful 
transaction. 

9.  I  have  already  pointed  out,  in  the  commencement  of  this 
chapter,  the  general  nature  of  the  change  produced  upon  the 
primeval  state  of  man,  by  the  Covenant  of  Works.  The  prom- 
ises annexed  to  that  covenant,  by  way  of  reward  for  the  obedience 
that  should  fulfil  it  on  the  part  of  Adam — are  less  insisted  on  in 
the  Scriptures  than  the  nature  of  the  penalty  annexed  to  its 
breach.  And  the  reason  is  most  obvious.  Whatever  those 
promises  could  have  produced,  became  impossible  by  the  fall  of 
man  ;  and  besides  more  than  they  could  have  secured  for  us,  is 
now  secured  in  Christ  :  while  the  penalty  has  actually  been  in- 
curred by  man,  and  it  imports  us  all,  as  we  value  our  souls,  to 
understand  it  and  the  way  of  escaping  it.  Still  those  prom- 
ises were  transcendently  great.  The  very  essence  of  the  Covenant 
was,  that  it  was  a  Covenant  of  Life — the  very  sign  and  seal  of 
which  was  the  Tree  of  Life,  of  which  the  earliest  and  the  latest 
pages  of  God's  Word  are  alike  full,  now  in  the  beginning  of  time 
as  a  Sacrament  in  Eden — and  again  in  the  end  of  time  as  an  in- 
finite truth  in  Paradise.1  But  we  know  expressly  and  in  many 
ways  of  divine  statement — amongst  the  rest  by  the  very  penalty 
of  this  Covenant,  that  death  had  no  place  in  the  world  before 
the  fall  of  man.4  A  divine  Covenant  of  Life,  therefore  with  a 
glorious  being,  as  yet  not  subject  to  death ;  a  Covenant  whose 
very  object  was  to  remove  all  risk  of  lapse — and  to  advance  still 
higher  the  glory  and  blessedness  of  the  creature  ;  is,  in  a  most 
exalted  sense,  a  Covenant  of  promise.  This  therefore  was  the 
sanction  of  the  Covenant,  on  that  side,  namely  :  the  perpetual 
confirmation  of  Adam  and  his  whole  race,  in  their  primeval  state 
of  innocence  and  perfection,  the  augmentation  and  eternal  dura- 


1  Lev.,  xviii.  5;  Gal.,  iii.  12. 


Gen.,  ii.  17  ;  Rom.,  v.  12. 


chap,  xxxi.]       ttie   covenant   of  works.  473 

tion  of  this  glory  and  blessedness.1  Nothing  can  give  ns  a  clearer 
idea  of  the  infinite  glory  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  and  of  the  in- 
finite love  which  prompted  it — than  that  it  secures  to  fallen 
man  a  higher  estate,  than  was  thus  put  in  the  reach  of  man  be- 
fore he  fell. 

10.  "What  the  penalty  annexed  to  the  breach  of  the  Cove- 
nant of  Works  was  intended  to  mean,  and  who  were  designed  to 
be  embraced  by  it,  might  be  said  not  to  admit  of  any  doubt,  if 
it  were  not  for  the  fierce  and  reiterated  assaults  which  have  been 
made  upon  this  portion  of  the  dealings  of  God  with  his  creatures. 
In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die." 
Nothing  could  be  more  explicit  than  this.  Nor  is  it  less  so, 
when  we  are  told,  that  death  entered  into  the  world  by  sin,  and 
has  passed  upon  all  because  all  are  sinners  :  and  that  the  sin 
thus  entering  into  the  world  was  an  act  of  disobedience  of  one 
man,  and  that  man  Adam.3  Nay,  the  form  of  the  penalty  in  fts 
first  utterance,  has  been  confirmed  not  only  by  all  Scripture, 
but  by  the  whole  sum  of  human  experience,  and  by  the  inti- 
mate consciousness  of  every  human  being — Dying  thou  shalt  die. 
As  soon  as  you  eat  the  forbidden  fruit  you  will  cease  to  be  the 
head  of  a  living,  and  become  the  head  of  a  dying  race.  As  if  he 
had  said,  your  soul  and  body  shall  separate,  which  is  temporal 
death  :*  your  soul  and  body  shall  both  be  separated  from  the 
favor  of  God  during  this  life,  which  is  spiritual  death  :5  your 
whole  man,  soul  and  body,  shall  be  eternally  banished  from  God's 
heavenly  presence  and  glory,  and  have  their  part  in  the  lake 
which  burnetii  with  fire  and  brimstone,  which  is  the  second 
death.6  And  is  it  not  so  ?  Is  not  our  race  a  dying  race  ?  Does 
not  every  human  heart  know  that  it  is  a  sinful  race  ?  And  are 
not  our  just  and  terrible  apprehensions  of  the  retributions  of  eter- 
nity, the  testimony  of  nature  herself  to  the  perdition  of  ungodly 
men  ?  Nor  is  it  possible  for  any  thing  to  give  us  a  higher  con- 
ception than  such  a  penal  sanction  as  this  annexed  to  the  coven- 
ant does,  of  the  desire  of  God  to  deter,  as  before  to  persuade 
man  from  its  violation,  and  of  the  terrible  guilt  of  that  violation, 
and  of  the  fearful  nature  of  the  catastrophe  it  would  j)roduce. 
I  have  said  before,  that  no  penalty  could  be  greater  than  this  ; 
and  I  have  added,  that  we  must,  nevertheless,  find  in  this  very 

1  Mat.,  xix.  1G,  17   xxii.32;  Luke,  x.  25;  Rom.,  viii.  3.  3  Gen.,  ii.  7. 

3  Rom.,  v.  12-19.  *  Gen.,  xxv.  11  i  Luke,  L  79.  •  Rev.,  xxl  8. 


474  THE     KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

penalty  some  proof  of  God's  beneficent  intentions  toward  man  in 
this  very  covenant.  The  same  apparent  paradox  confronts  us  in 
a  still  higher  degree  in  the  aggravation  of  the  ruin  of  the  impeni- 
tent by  reason  of  their  rejection  of  Jesus  Christ.  These  are  the 
two  highest  manifestations  of  the  solicitude  of  God  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  man ;  and  they  are  attended  by  the  two  highest 
proofs  of  his  abhorrence  of  sin.  In  both  instances,  while  we 
tremble  at  the  severity  of  God,  we  perceive  that  any  other  line 
of  conduct  on  his  part  would  not  be  an  evidence  of  love  to  us, 
but  of  indifference  to  his  own  glory.  We  have  yet  learned  but 
little  of  God,  or  of  the  only  foundation  of  our  own  blessedness, 
until  we  comprehend  that  his  refusal  to  look  upon  sin  with  the 
least  allowance,  is  precisely  the  point  in  which  the  penitent  and 
believing  heart  the  most  earnestly  desires  conformity  unto  him. 
It  is  not  immunity  in  sin,  it  is  deliverance  from  sin,  that  either 
covenant  proposed,  or  any  child  of  God  ever  desired.  The  cov- 
enant of  works  would  have  prevented  our  ruin  ;  the  covenant  of 
grace  would  retrieve  it.  In  both  instances  sin  is  the  dangerous, 
the  hateful,  the  fatal  thing.  The  solution  was  against  us  in 
Eden,  for  us  at  Calvary.  In  both  instances  the  proof  of  God's 
hatred  toward  sin  augmented  the  proof  of  his  love  for  us. 

III. — 1.  It  is  noteworthy,  that  notwithstanding  the  import- 
ant part  played  by  Eve  in  the  sequel,  the  covenant  of  works  was 
not  made  with  her  ;  but  she,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  human  race, 
was  embraced  in  it  representatively — a  very  pregnant  fact,  resting, 
perhaps,  in  part  upon  her  relation  of  permanent  dependence  upon 
Adam,  and  chiefly  upon  her  being  really,  though  in  a  peculiar 
way,  as  completely  a  part  of  himself  as  his  descendants  were.  In 
like  manner  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  both  before  the  covenant 
and  under  it,  there  was  the  distinct  recognition  and  the  outward 
application  to  Adam,  of  all  three  of  those  great  classes  of  duty 
which  appertain  to  man  in  every  possible  condition  of  mortal  ex- 
istence, and  which  unitedly  embrace  every  duty  obligatory  upon 
him  in  this  life.  What  we  owe  to  God,  what  we  owe  to  our 
neighbor,  and  what  we  owe  to  ourselves,  embraces  every  thing. 
The  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath  day,  the  institution  of  mar- 
riage, and  the  command  to  dress  and  keep  the  garden  of  Eden, 
were  stated,  outward,  and  revealed  instances  in  all  these  great 
classes,  each  of  supreme  importance  in  its  class.  These  duties, 
like  the  moral  lawr,  which  is  the  eternal  rule  of  rectitude,  are  lia- 


CHAI\  XXXI.]         THE    COVENANT    OF    WORKS.  475 

Lie,  no  doubt,  to  various  modifications  under  the  perpetual 
course  of  divine  providence,  and  the  interminable  vicissitudes  of 
all  things.  But  the  moral  law  itself,  and  the  principle  of  duty  to 
God,  to  our  neighbor,  and  to  oursclf  are  both  immutable.  They 
preceded  the  Covenant  of  Works;  they  would  have  survived  if 
that  covenant  had  been  executed,  as  they  have  survived  its 
breach  ;  and  so  far  from  being  discharged  by  the  Covenant  of 
Grace,  they  not  only  receive  their  fullest  realization  by  means  of 
it,  but  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  protests  that  faith  es- 
tablishes the  Law,  and  that  it  would  be  a  fatal  objection  to  faith 
if  the  Law  was  made  void  through  it.1 

2.  The  whole  idea  of  the  Covenant  of  Works  proceeds  on 
the  assumption  that  man  in  his  original  condition,  though  per- 
fect, was  fallible  :  just  as  the  whole  conception  of  the  Covenant 
of  Grace  j>roceeds  on  the  assumption  that  man,  though  fallen 
and  depraved,  is  capable  of  being  restored.  The  fallibility  of 
the  most  perfect  dependent  creature,  is  an  absolute  condition 
of  its  existence.  If  it  were  infallible  it  would  be  immutable  ; 
and  being  immutable,  it  must  necessarily  be  eternal ;  and  if 
eternal,  it  can  neither  be  created  nor  dependent.  Moreover,  if  it 
is  infallible  it  must  be  without  any  limitation  of  any  attribute, 
whether  in  the  number  or  the  perfection  of  its  attributes  ;  but 
a  being  with  an  infinite  number  of  infinite  attributes,  is  an  infi- 
nite being.  And  again,  to  be  infallible,  it  must  be  absolutely 
perfect  ;  but  absolute  perfection  is  the  negation  of  dependence 
and  creation,  as  well  as  of  fallibility.  And  so  on  through  all 
the  phases  of  existence.  As  far  as  we  can  understand,  the  alter- 
native offered  to  God — was  the  creation  of  dependent  and  falli- 
ble creatures,  or  no  creation  at  all  :  and  after  their  creation,  a 
covenant  answerable  to  their  created  nature,  or  no  covenant  at 
all :  and  after  their  fall,  a  recovery  answerable  to  their  fallen 
nature,  or  no  recovery  at  all. 

3.  An  infinite  God  might,  in  any  contingency,  give  to  any 
fallible  creature  sufficient  aid,  of  whatever  kind,  to  keep  it  in  its 
actual  estate.  But  this  is  a  keeping  founded  on  the  aid  of  God, 
and  not  on  the  infallibility  of  the  creature.  It  is  an  aid,  more- 
over, founded  on  the  idea  of  Grace — not  on  the  idea  of  law,  of 
trial,  of  reward,  or  even  of  conditional  promise.  And  thus  even 
the  final  perseverance  and  consequent  salvation  of  the  saints, 

1  Rom.,  iii.  31. 


476  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK   ", 

does  not  depend  at  all  upon  their  infallibility,  much  less  upon 
their  free  will :  but  it  depends  upon  the  efficacy  of  the  work  of 
Christ — the  abiding  of  the  Spirit  of  God  within  them — the  na- 
ture of  the  Covenant  of  Grace — and  the  immutability  of  God's 
eternal  decree.  There  is,  however,  something  more  as  to  the 
intimate  cause  of  this  eternal  steadfastness  of  the  redeemed, 
which  can  only  be  glanced  at  here,  as  illustrative  of  the  general 
question  of  the  fallibility  of  dependent  creatures — and  the  guard- 
ing against  it  only  through  grace.  We  are  fold  that  as  Christ's 
brethren  were  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  so  liable  to  death, 
and  to  the  temptation  of  him  who  had  the  power  of  death — • 
Christ  himself  became  incarnate,  that  through  death  he  might 
destroy  the  Devil  and  deliver  the  children  of  God.1  When  the 
destruction  of  Satan  is  fully  consummated,  all  fallible  creatures 
will,  therefore,  be  delivered  from  such  temptation  as  destroyed 
Adam,  and  has  kept  his  race  in  bondage.  To  this  it  is  added, 
that  they  who  hold  the  beginning  of  their  confidence  steadfast 
to  the  end,  are  made  partakers  of  Christ  :2  and  still  further,  that 
amongst  the  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises  which  arc 
given  to  us  through  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  one  of 
the  chief  is,  that  having  escaped  the  corruption  that  is  in  the 
world  through  lust,  we  should  be  partakers  of  the  divine  nature:3 
and  finally,  that  being  changed  from  glory  to  glory,  we  shall  at- 
tain to  the  image  of  the  Lord  the  Spirit,  and  to  the  liberty  in 
which  he  abides.4  So  that  besides  eternal  freedom  from  tempta- 
tion, there  will  be  an  exaltation  passing  beyond  the  possession 
of  God's  image  into  the  possession  of  God's  nature  ;  and,  there- 
fore, no  more  possibility  of  lapse.  To  the  present  purpose  it  is 
of  no  consequence,  whether  we  take  this  in  its  simple  and  sub- 
lime verity,  as  I  incline  to  do,  or  take  it  merely  as  expressive  of 
our  infinite  security  through  grace.  Either  way,  it  suffices  to 
illustrate  the  wide  difference  between  a  fallible  creature  undei 
the  Covenant  of  Works,  and  a  fallible  creature  under  the  Cove- 
nant of  Grace  ;  and  to  explain  how  Adam,  tempted  by  Satan, 
and  tried  under  a  Covenant  of  Works,  was  necessarily  in  fearful 
peril ;  and  yet  how  that  specific  trial  diminished  the  peril  and 
increased  the  reward  of  a  universal  and  perpetual  trial,  without 
any  positive  covenant  at  all. 

4.  The  absolute  dominion  of  God  over  man,  and  the  complete 
>  Ileb.,  ii.  14,  15.        8  neb.,  iiL  14.        s  2  Peter,  i.  1-4.        *  2  Cor.,  iii.  17,  18. 


OHAP.  XXXI.]         THE    COVENANT    OF    WORKS.  477 

dependence  of  man  on  God,  air.  fundamental  truths  of  all  re- 
ligion, whether  natural  or  reveal  id.  whethei  practical  or  specula- 
tive. The  inherent  poison  of  every  form  of  religious  error, 
whether  it  be  manifested  in  life  or  in  doctrine — when  stated  in 
its  most  general  form,  is  the  rejection,  in  one  way  or  other,  of 
this  dominion  of  God  over  man  ;  or  this  dependence  of  man  on 
God.  The  Covenant  of  Works,  considered  in  its  widest  sense, 
is  the  complete  recognition  and  direct  application  of  both  of  these 
fundamental  truths.  Even  in  the  narrowest  view  that  can  be 
taken  of  it,  it  still  proceeds  upon  both  of  them,  and.  applies  them 
both  to  a  particular  divine  constitution,  designed  to  determine 
practically  and  in  the  first  instance,  the  condition  of  the  human 
race  ;  and  to  exhibit  clearly  the  result  of  these  two  great  truths, 
when  applied  to  a  perfect  but  fallible  creature  placed  under  cer- 
tain specified  conditions.  The  Covenant  of  Grace  applies  the 
same  test  to  the  same  creature— placed  under  conditions  fatally 
modified  by  the  breach  of  the  previous  covenant,  and  under  a 
divine  constitution  answerable  to  that  changed,  condition.  It  is 
still  the  absolute  dominion  of  God — the  complete  dependence  of 
man.  Why  was  the  second  result  of  the  combined  application 
of  divine  sovereignty  and  human  dependence  to  a  condition  so 
much  worse  than  the  first — as  full  of  blessedness  as  the  other 
was  of  misery  ?  Whatever  answer  to  that  question  will  solve 
the  difficulty,  will  at  the  same  time  exalt  to  the  highest  pitch, 
both  of  the  truths  I  am  asserting.  The  whole  difference  lies  ab- 
solutely in  divine  grace. 

5.  From  the  very  constitution  of  our  minds  we  are  prone  to 
scrutinize  the  conduct,  even  of  our  Creator,  and  to  determine  for 
ourselves,  and  according  to  such  light  as  we  have,  all  things  what- 
soever. If  this  is  done  with  sincerity  and  sobriety,  the  issue 
should  always  be  to  the  honor  of  God  and  the  comfort  of  our 
souls.  Of  all  that  God  has  done,  nothing  perhaps  is  more 
worthy  to  be  thoroughly  scrutinized  by  us  than  his  creation  of 
man,  and  his  dealings  with  him  in  his  primeval  estate,  and 
through  the  Covenant  of  Works  :  for  without  these  things,  what 
are  all  things  to  us  ?  Iu  tnese  attempts  we  encounter,  of  course, 
questions  far  out  of  the  reach  of  our  intelligence  ;  other  ques- 
tions abstruse  to  the  last  degree,  but  yet  not  utterly  closed 
against  patient  thought  ;  other  questions  boundless  in  their 
pregnancy,  but  still  rich  iu  their  wonderful  disclosures.     Sitting 


478  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

down  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  Christ,  with  the  divine  word  in  our 
hands,  and  the  divine  Spirit  in  our  hearts,  we  can  never  rise  up 
without  feeling  our  spirit  tranquillized  by  whatever  search  into 
these  wonderful  transactions.  Confining  this  suggestion  for  the 
present,  to  the  special  subject  of  this  chapter,  this  much  seems 
certain,  that  in  whatever  respect  the  primeval  condition  of  man, 
exalted  as  that  was,  can  be  considered  as  having  been  modified 
by  means  of  the  Covenant  of  Works  ;  it  was  to  the  advantage 
of  the  human  race  and  to  the  praise  of  the  goodness  of  God.  In 
illustration  of  which,  let  it  be  considered  : 

(a)  That  by  means  of  this  covenant  this  much  would  neces- 
sarily be  gained,  that  a  mixed  condition  of  the  human  race  would 
be  assuredly  avoided  ;  a  possible  condition  analogous  to  that  of 
Angels  and  Devils  living  together,  rendered  impossible.  Let  the 
trial  of  Adam  issue  as  it  might,  the  unity  of  the  race  would  be 
preserved  ;  to  its  infinite  blessedness  if  he  stood  ;  and  even  if  he 
fell,  to  its  unspeakable  advantage  in  this,  that  it  wTould  still  be 
in  a  position  to  receive  as  a  whole,  what  none  could  otherwise 
receive  at  all,  namely,  whatever  ulterior  overtures  of  mercy,  the 
infinite  resources  of  divine  beneficence  might  suggest. 

(b)  This  further  and  immense  advantage  was  obtained — that 
as  the  covenant  was  made  with  Adam,  and  had  reference  to 
specific  proofs  of  his  obedience — the  probation  of  the  race  be- 
came personal  to  one  man,  instead  of  universal  to  all  men — 
specific  of  certain  acts  of  his,  instead  of  perpetual  of  all  acts  of 
all  men  ;  temporary  and  definite,  instead  of  endless  and  indefi- 
nite. Add  to  which,  whatever  additional  strength  could  be  im- 
parted to  a  pure  and  great  soul,  thus  situated,  by  every  just  and 
exalted  motive  drawn  from  a  sense  of  duty  to  his  own  innu- 
merable posterity  through  endless  ages,  thus  added  to  the  duty 
already  binding  on  him  both  to  God  and  to  himself. 

(c)  Other  and  conclusive  facts  made  this  probation  of  the 
race  in  Adam  more  favorable  to  it,  than  any  other  imaginable 
probation  of  it  could  be.  He  had  been  personally  created  by 
God — created  in  a  state  of  perfection — and  in  the  complete  ma- 
turity of  all  his  faculties.  He  personally  knew  God.  He  had 
every  advantage  and  help  which  it  was  possible  any  creature 
similar  to  himself  ever  could  have,  and  some  which  none  ever 
could  possess  ;  he  escaped  innumerable  occasions  of  temptation  and 
causes  of  weakness  to  which  every  future  man  would  be  exposed. 


CHAr.  XXXI.]         THE    COVENANT    OF    WORKS.  479 

(d)  One  trial,  by  one  precisely  similar  scries  of  acts  ;  directed 
to  a  single  object  ;  under  one  single  command,  and  that  toward 
a  duty  we  cannot  conceive  to  have  been  difficult  ;  one  single 
prohibition,  and  that  directed  against  a  sensuous  act  most  of  all 
under  the  control  of  the  will :  all  surrounding  circumstances  as 
favorable  as  they  ever  could  be  to  any  similar  attempt  !  If  the 
Scriptures  had  omitted  to  state  the  particular  seduction  under 
which  Adam  fell,  how  could  we  imagine  his  failure  to  be  possible  ? 
(c)  With  the  perfect  knowledge  beforehand  of  the  trial  and 
the  risk — the  danger  and  the  reward  :  with  the  image  of  God 
full  upon  him,  and  the  law  of  God  written  in  his  heart ;  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  if  he  failed,  it  was  not  in  the  nature  of  the 
case  possible  for  any  one  to  succeed  who  was  inferior  to  him,  nor 
probable  that  any  one  not  superior  to  him  could  do  so.  But  of 
his  race  none  could  be  superior  to  him  ;  while,  as  has  been  shown, 
none  could  be,  in  all  respects,  equal  to  him,  for  this  great  ser- 
vice. Yet  if  he  had  succeeded,  all  his  race  would  have  reaped  all 
the  blessings  and  benefits  of  his  obedience. 

(/)  It  seems  to  me  that  we  are  left  without  any  ground  on 
which  to  doubt  or  hesitate,  unless  we  deem  it  right  to  repine 
that  God  created  our  race  at  all,  or  that  having  created  them, 
he  had  purposes  of  infinite  beneficence  toward  them.  If  our  ob- 
jection is,  that  he  created  our  race  fallible  ;  the  answer  is  that 
an  infallible  creature  is  as  really  a  contradiction  in  terms  as  an 
uncreated  creature.  If  it  be  that  we  object  to  the  probation  of 
a  fallible  creature  ;  the  answer  is  again  this  is  a  contradiction  in 
terms,  because  to  be  fallible  is  to  be  on  probation.  If  it  be  that 
we  object  to  the  particular  probation  ordained  by  God  in  the 
covenant  of  works  :  the  answer  is  again,  this  is  a  contradiction 
in  terms,  because  while  it  admits  the  general  necessity  of  a  pro- 
bation, by  excepting  to  the  particular  probation,  it  retracts  the 
admission  in  which  the  exception  itself  rests  ;  since  the  particu- 
lar probation  excepted  to,  is  of  all  that  can  be  imagined  the 
very  best  for  him  that  is  to  be  tried.  Alas  !  what  hurts  us  is, 
not  that  we  were  tried — but  that  we  failed. 

6.  The  immutability  of  God,  and  by  consequence  the  immu- 
tability of  the  sum  of  the  True  and  Good,  and  therefore  the  im- 
mutability of  the  ultimate  elements  of  Religion,  necessarily  re- 
produces under  every  form  which  true  Religion  can  put  on,  those 
great  principles  which  are   involved  in  its  very  nature.     This 


480  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

necessity  is  no  less  obvious  on  the  side  of  our  own  nature,  which 
being  in  all  its  estates  and  under  all  its  mutations,  essentially 
the  same  nature,  can  never  escape  in  one  condition  any  immuta- 
ble principle  or  truth,  which  stood  related  to  its  essence  in  any 
other  condition.  Our  condition  as  fallible  creatures,  our  condi- 
tion as  sinful  creatures,  our  condition  as  regenerate  creatures, 
our  condition  as  glorified  creatures,  and  I  might  add  our  condi- 
tion as  finally  lost  creatures,  is  each  time  peculiar  ;  but  we  are 
essentially  the  same  creatures  through  all  conditions.  Illustrat- 
ing at  present  the  immense  truth  involved  herein,  by  contem- 
plating oaly  so  much  of  our  destiny  as  is  involved  in  our  prime- 
val estate,  in  the  covenant  of  works,  and  in  the  development, 
until  now,  of  the  covenant  of  grace  ;  we  have  seen  continually 
and  especially  in  this  and  in  the  preceding  chapter,  how  numer- 
ous and  how  controlling  are  the  ways  in  which  it  makes  itself 
manifest.  The  perpetuity  of  the  principle  of  duty — the  immu- 
tability of  the  moral  law,  the  unalterable  necessity  of  obedience 
— the  eternal  force  of  man's  primeval  consecration  to  God,  and 
of  the  obligation  to  render  a  corresponding  outward  worship — 
the  illimitable  sovereignty  of  God  over  man — the  unavoid- 
able dependence  of  man  on  God — the  possession  of  the  image 
of  God  by  man  as  the  one  condition  of  his  being  rational, 
moral,  and  immortal,  the  one  condition  of  his  primeval  inno- 
cence, his  present  susceptibility  of  restoration,  and  his  capacity 
to  be  forever  glorified — the  utter  impossibility  of  created  perfec- 
tion that  shall  be  absolute  and  infallible,  short  of  a  union  with 
God  so  close  as  to  justify  the  Scriptures  in  calling  it  a  partaking 
of  the  divine  nature  :  these  are  among  the  eternal  and  immuta- 
ble realities  which  are  wholly  irrespective  of  the  form  which 
true  religion  may  put  on — but  which  exist  equally  and  unavoid- 
ably under  all  its  forms  as  primitive  laws  or  elements  of  its  very 
essence.  It  is,  of  course,  very  evident  that  the  successive  forms 
which  Ecligion  may  put  on,  may  educe  additional  principles, 
not  manifest  before  ;  or  even  new  principles  peculiar  to  these 
forms  ;  and  these  whether  of  one  or  the  other  sort,  maybe  of  the 
most  transcendent  importance,  and  may  become  thenceforward 
not  only  immutable  but  paramount.  As,  for  example,  the  reve- 
lation and  establishment  of  the  principle  of  a  positive  covenant 
between  God  and  man,  as  the  basis  of  all  special  mercy.  I  will 
add  two  specifications  to  those  already  stated  generally  ;  one  of 


CHAP.  XXXI.]         THE    COVENANT     OF     WORKS.  481 

them  connected  with  the  example  just  cited,  the  other  with  both 
classes  of  troths  ;  Loth  of  them  having  the  highest  importance. 

(a)  The  principle  of  a  positive  Covenant  carried  with  it  the 
principle  of  Representation — Headship  :  and  that  involved  the 
principle  of  substitution — Imputation.  Adam,  as  the  covenanted 
head  of  his  race,  represented  the  race,  was  substituted  in  the 
probation,  for  the  race.  Inevitably,  therefore,  his  acts  involved 
the  race  ;  that  is,  the  race  would  be  treated  precisely  as  if  every 
member  of  it  had  done,  personally,  exactly  what  they  did  repre- 
sentatively. The  merit  of  Adam's  obedience — the  dement  of  his 
transgression,  would  be  imputed  to  them  as  much  as  to  him  : 
and  this  imputation  would  be  grounded,  not  on  any  vague  gene- 
rality, nor  on  any  arbitrary  constitution  ;  but  upon  the  very  na- 
ture of  the  covenant  itself,  and  upon  the  very  wisdom,  and  good- 
ness, and  reason,  wnfch  dictated  the  covenant.  This  does  not 
express  the  whole  case  ;  because  Adam  was,  in  addition,  the  pro- 
genitor of  the  whole  race.  As  such,  his  acts  were  not  imputed, 
but  his  nature  was  inherited :  which  completes  the  case.  He 
was  the  root  of  the  race.  Now  this  is  precisely  analogous  to  what 
occurs  under  the  covenant  of  grace.  Christ  is  the  Head,  the  Rep- 
resentative of  the  Redeemed :  the  merit  of  his  obedience  and 
sacrifice — which  was  obedience  unto  death — is  imputed  to  them, 
precisely  because  it  was  rendered  in  their  stead,  that  is,  it  was 
vicarious.  And,  moreover,  every  one  of  them  inherits  through 
Christ,  and.  by  a  new  birth,  a  new  life — a  renewed  nature  : 
which,  as  before,  completes  the  case  :  and  as  before,  in  the  very 
nature  of  the  covenant.  Adam,  under  the  Covenant  of  Works, 
is  the  Federal  and  Natural  Head  of  all  who  are  embraced  in  that 
Covenant.  Christ,  under  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  is  the  Federal 
and  Supernatural  Head  of  all  who  are  embraced  in  that  Cove- 
nant. So  exact  is  the  analogy,  and  so  immutable  is  the  princi- 
ple, that  the  two  applications  of  it  in  the  two  covenants,  mutu- 
ally restrain  each  other,  if  I  may  so  speak.  For  the  unrestricted 
finality  of  Adam's  work  would  have  been  the  utter  perdition  of 
the  whole  race  :  that  of  Christ's  work  its  total  restoration.  In 
so  far  as  Christ's  work  actually  saves  any  body — the  work  of 
Adam  is  actually  repaired :  and  in  so  far  as  Adam's  work  causes 
or  ends  in  the  destruction  of  any  body — Christ's  Salvation  lacks 
that  much  of  being  actually  universal.1 

1  Rom.,  v.  passim. 
31 


482  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

(b)  The  great  principle  on  which  human  nature  still  insists 
on  saving  itself,  is  precisely  the  one  on  which  human  nature 
stood  in  its  primitive  estate  :  Do  and  Live.  It  is  the  same 
principle  which  in  a  new  form  was  tested  by  Adam,  under  the 
Covenant  of  Works  :  Do  that  others  may  Live.  It  is  the  same 
principle  which  in  its  last  form  Christ  fully  wrought  out :  Do  for 
sinners,  that  they  may  Live.  The  application  of  the  principle 
in  its  most  difficult  form,  by  Christ,  was  comjDlete  and  triumph- 
ant. Its  application  in  its  second  form,  by  Adam,  was  a  total 
failure.  Its  application,  in  its  first  form,  by  man  in  his  primeval 
estate,  was  superseded  by  the  publication  of  the  Covenant  of 
Works:  which  was  a  great  and  merciful  modification  of  it.  Its 
application  in  that  first  form,  now  by  sinful  men,  is  a  mere  ex- 
pression on  the  one  side,  of  their  natural  conviction  that  man 
cannot  be  saved,  and  should  not  be  saved,  in  sin  ;  and  on  the 
other  side,  of  their  stupid  and  deadly  unbelief.  Taken  altogether, 
we  have  the  testimony  of  human  nature  itself,  under  all  its  mani- 
festations, and  we  have  the  testimony  of  God  under  every  form 
in  which  he  has  dealt  with  man.  that  the  principle  upon  which  the 
Covenant  of  Works  was  based,  was  a  merciful  form  of  the  very 
principle  upon  which  the  universe  itself  is  sustained,  and  which 
neither  God  nor  man  can  forego,  while  the  universe  endures.  A 
fitness  for  God's  favor  must  exist  to  justify  the  continuance  of 
that  favor.  The  fall  of  man  brought  an  utterly  ruined  world, 
and  that  immutable  principle,  face  to  face.  The  solution  of  the 
tremendous  problem  was — Christ  Crucified  ! 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

ORIGIN  OF  EVIL:   BREACH  OF  THE  COVENANT  OF  WORKS:    FALL  OF 
MAN :    RUIN  OF  THE  HUMAN  RACE. 

I.  1.  The  relations  of  tho  questions  of  the  origin  of  Evil  and  the  manner  of  its  occur- 
rence, to  Philosophy  and  to  Theology. — 2.  Method  of  their  solution. — 3.  The 
Logical  solution  clear  but  conditional. — II.  1.  These  questions,  as  stated  and 
solved  by  the  Apostle  Paul. — 2.  The  remedy  as  stated  by  him,  side  by  side  with 
their  solution. — 3.  As  questions  of  Reason,  of  Fact,  and  of  Revelation,  they  are 
solved  by  the  Fall  of  Adam. — 4.  The  connection  of  the  human  race  with  Adam, 
in  that  Catastrophe.  He  was  its  natural  Progenitor. — 5.  He  was  its  Covenanted, 
Federal  Head. — 6.  This  principle  of  Representation  illustrated  in  Redemption. — 
III.  1.  Detailed  Analysis  of  the  Facts  attending  the  Fall  of  Man,  as  they  are  stated 
by  Moses,  and  accepted  throughout  the  Scriptures. — 2.  State  of  mind  of  Satan, 
and  of  our  first  Parents,  proximate  to  the  Fall. — 3.  The  outward  act — and  its  im- 
mediate Effects. — 4.  The  relation  of  this  Event  and  its  consequences,  to  the  eter- 
nal Counsel  and  Purpose  of  God. — 5.  Intimate  cause  of  Adam's  first  sin. — 6.  The 
effects  of  the  Fall  upon  the  question  of  duty,  and  the  nature  and  measure  of  ac- 
countability.— IV.  1.  Detailed  Analysis  of  the  personal  Facts,  and  personal  Effects 
upon  our  First  Parents,  immediately  consequent  on  their  Fall. — 2.  The  sentence 
pronounced  by  God,  upon  Satan,  upon  the  Earth,  and  upon  Adam  and  Eve. — 

3.  Appreciation  of  that  sentence,  and  of  the  new  condition  of  man  under  it. — 

4.  The  passing  over  of  a  fallible  nature  from  Perfection  to  Depravity.  Original 
Sin:  (a.)  The  Guilt  of  Adam's  First  sin:  (b.)  "Want  of  Original  Righteousness: 
(c.)  Corruption  of  our  whole  Xature. — 5.  Distinction  between  the  strictly  Penal, 
and  the  merely  Incidental  Results  of  the  Fall. — 6.  Under  the  curse  of  God,  but 
with  his  promise  of  Deliverance. 

I. — 1.  The  questions  which  we  encounter  at  this  point  give 
rise  to  some  of  the  most  disputed  prohlems  of  Theology,  as  well  as 
some  of  the  most  difficult  points  in  Philosophy  ;  and  yet  the 
facts  connected  with  them  are  as  distinctly  stated  in  the  Scrip- 
tures as  any  other  connected  with  the  nature  or  the  history  of 
man  ;  and  are  as  intelligible  as  any  others  that  are  fundamental 
in  the  scheme  of  his  existence  or  destiny.  The  existence  of  evil, 
either  moral  or  physical,  as  a  question  of  Philosophy,  may  be 
altogether  inscrutable,  but  as  a  question  of  fact  there  can  be  no 
rational  difference  of  opinion.     In  like  manner  the  mode  of  its 


484  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

occurrence,  and  even  the  mode  of  its  propagation,  may  be  wholly 
incapable  of  determination  by  us  when  left  to  ourselves  ;  or 
various  conceivable  modes  may  be  suggested,  alike  possible  in 
point  of  reason,  and  alike  defective  in  proof.  But  as  soon  as 
that  divine  interposition  is  allowed  which  is  the  fundamental 
principle  of  Kevealed  Keligion,  and  the  whole  scope  of  which  is 
recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  then  both  questions,  namely,  the  ex- 
istence of  evil  and  the  manner  of  its  occurrence,  though  they 
must  still  occupy  their  place  in  the  domain  of  Philosophy,  be- 
come fundamental  in  Eevealed  Theology. 

2.  Why  evil  should  be  allowed — and  how — are  questions 
precisely  similar  to  the  questions,  why  should  there  be  any  crea- 
tion— and  how  ?  They  are  all  to  be  solved  only,  and  precisely 
in  the  same  manner — namely  by  God  himself — upon  the  suppo- 
sition that  God  has  interposed  and  made  a  Eevelation.  No 
doubt,  if  in  solving  them,  the  reason  or  the  conscience  of  man 
should  be  outraged,  or  the  established  facts  of  the  universe  should 
be  disallowed  :  a  powerful  and  just  presumption  would  arise  that 
the  solution  was  not  of  God,  and  that  the  record  which  contained 
it  was  not  divine.  But  this  goes  to  the  question  of  a  divine  in- 
terposition and  a  divine  record  of  it :  not  to  the  question  whether 
such  a  record  ought  to  solve,  or  does  in  fact  solve  such  mys- 
teries. In  like  manner — though  men  see  fit  to  dispute  concern- 
ing the  true  significance  of  the  actual  solutions  given  by  God  : 
this  is  no  more  than  they  sec  fit  to  do  concerning  every  question 
great  and  small,  whether  of  Natural  or  Eevealed  Eeligion — or 
indeed  of  every  thing  else,  in  very  near  proportion  to  their  igno- 
rance and  presumption. 

3.  We  can  readily  understand,  that  God  in  determining 
whether  he  would  create  a  universe  or  not,  would  decide  accord- 
ing as  one  course  or  the  other  would  be  most  pleasing  to  him- 
self ;  and  that  this  would  depend  upon  which  course  would  re- 
sult most  to  his  own  glory.  If  he  should  create — we  can  easily 
see  that  he  would  select  such  a  universe  as  would  most  perfectly 
answer  the  ends  he  had  in  view  :  and  that  these  ends,  if  they 
were  many,  could  not  contradict  and  defeat  each  other  :  and  that 
the  rest  must  necessarily  bend  before  the  sufficient  and  chief 
end.  Touching  the  matters  now  before  us  we  may  add,  that  it 
is  plain  enough  his  infinite  purity  would  lead  him  to  exclude 
all  sin — and  his  infinite  goodness  to  exclude  all  misery  from  the 


CHAP.  XXXII.]  FALL     OF     MAN.  485 

universe,  to  the  whole  extent  this  could  be  done  consistently 
with  his  main  and  sufficient  end.  And  seeing  we  know  so  little 
of  God  compared  with  infinite  knowledge — so  few  of  his  perfec- 
tions compared  with  their  infinite  number — and  so  little  of  each 
one  of  them  compared  with  its  infinite  scope  ;  we  may  make  our 
very  ignorance  a  just  basis  of  confidence.  Because  if  what  we 
do  know  makes  it  certain  that  he  would  act  in  a  particular  way 
—the  threefold  infinite  beyond  our  reach  immeasurably  exalts 
the  certainty,  that  if  all  were  known,  our  ground  of  confidence 
would  be  immeasurably  increased.  But  now  we  reach  the  end. 
For  imagine  it  to  be  possible  that  the  very  existence  of  sin  and 
misery,  may  tend  in  the  very  highest  degree,  to  promote  the  very 
main  and  sufficient  end  of  any  creation  at  all — namely  the  de- 
clarative glory  of  God  in  making  himself  known  to  the  universe  : 
then  we  are  obliged  to  cross  our  track  abruptly,  for  in  that  case 
we  cannot  avoid  seeing,  that  sin  and  misery  are  logically  certain 
in  a  created  universe.  And  when  we  see  in  fact,  that  sin  and 
misery  arc  in  the  Universe — and  see  further  that  the  chief  part 
of  the  certain  knowledge  we  have  of  God  comes  to  us  through 
the  plan  of  salvation — which  never  had  existed  if  sin  and  mis- 
ery had  not  existed ;  we  are  not  exactly  in  a  position  to  assert, 
that  it  is  impossible  for  the  case  to  arise,  upon  which  the  logical 
certainty  of  their  existence  occurs.  Our  best  way  is,  having 
reached  our  own  poor  limit — to  stand  reverently  before  God,  and 
hear  what  he  is  pleased  to  say. 

II. — 1.  He  who  was  not  a  whit  behind  the  chiefest  of  the 
Apostles  has  expounded  to  us,  after  his  manner,  these  great 
mysteries.  He  lias  done  it  expressly,  and  in  the  very  connection 
which  of  all  others  would  make  them  most  clear  and  most  im- 
pressive. He  has  placed  the  origin  of  evil,  and  its  cure — side  by 
side — and  explained  both  together.  The  fall  and  the  recovery 
of  man  are  held  up  together  to  our  view,  and  are  made  to  illus- 
trate each  other.  The  headship  of  Adam  and  the  headship  of 
Christ,  are  set  face  to  face,  and  a  parallel  is  run  between  them.1 
The  whole  of  both  cases  may  be  intelligibly  stated  in  a  few  sen- 
tences. 

(a)  Sin  entered  into  the  world  by  Adam  ;  and  death  came 
by  sin.3 

(b)  This  was  the  result  of  one  single  offence  ;  and  the  par- 

1  Rom.,  v.  12-1  a.  9  Rom.,  v.  12. 


486  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

ticular  nature  of  that  offence  was,  that  it  was  an  act  of  disobe- 
dience.1 

(c)  The  death  which  came  by  sin  passed  upon  all  men,  and 
this  in  a  twofold  sense  ;  they  not  only  actually  die  in  him,2  but 
they  do  so  because  they  sinned  in  him.3 

(d)  If  there  could  be  any  doubt  of  these  facts  or  of  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  they  rest,  the  sum  of  the  facts  of  man's  being 
and  God's  government  over  him,  would  put  them  beyond  ques- 
tion.4 

2.  Now  the  cure  of  sin,  the  recovery  of  man,  the  final  tri- 
umph of  grace,  all  proceed  on  these  same  principles.  Only  in 
this  case  there  is  an  abounding  power  and  glory — an  abounding 
application  of  the  remedy  for  sin  ;  by  means  of  which,  not  only 
is  the  restoration  of  man  to  be  made  complete,  but  he  will  be 
exalted  far  beyond  what  he  could  have  attained,  if  he  had  never 
fallen:  and  God's  declarative  glory  will  far  exceed  what  it  would 
have  been,  if  sin  had  never  entered  into  the  world.  Here  as  be- 
fore, a  few  sentences  may  make  the  matter  intelligible  : 

(a)  The  first  man,  who  was  only  a  living  soul,  was  the  figure 
of  him  that  was  to  come  :5  even  the  last  Adam,  who  was  a  quick- 
ening Spirit,  and  the  Lord  from  heaven.0 

(b)  So  complete  a  figure  was  the  former  of  the  latter,  that  as 
soon  as  we  comprehend  what  part  the  one  had  in  our  ruin,  we 
can  comprehend  the  part  the  other  has  in  our  recovery.  And  if 
we  comprehend  the  latter  best,  we  may  by  it  comprehend  the 
former.7 

(c)  The  abounding  fulness  and  power  of  the  latter  over  the 
former,  still  scrupulously  respected  the  exact  analogy  between 
the  two  cases.  The  ruin  was  by  means  of  a  single  act  of  disobe- 
dience :  the  recovery  by  means  of  a  universal  obedience  and 
an  infinite  sacrifice.  The  ruin  was  propagated  by  means  of  nat- 
ural generation  ;  the  recovery  is  consummated  by  means  of  a 
supernatural  regeneration.  Where  sin  abounded,  grace  shall 
much  more  abound  :  where  death  reigned  through  sin,  eternal 
life  shall  reign,  through  righteousness,  by  grace.8 

3.  Such  is  the  explanation  given  by  the  Apostle  Paul  of  the 
eutrance  of  Evil  into  our  world,  of  the  ruin  of  our  race  thereby 

1  Rom.,  v.  17-19.  a  1  Cor.,  xv.  21,  22.  3  Rom.,  v.  12. 

4  Rom.,  v.  12-19 ;  1  Cor.,  xr.  21,  22,  44-49.  6  Rom.,  v.  14. 

6  1  Cor.,  xv.  45-47.  7  1  Cor.,  xv.  43,  49.  8  Rom.,  v.  15-19. 


CHAP.  XXXII.]  FALL     OF     MAX.  487 

and  of  the  result  of  the  whole.  Side  by  side  with  this,  is  his 
account  of  the  recovery  of  man.  The  covenant  made  by  God 
with  man,  which  has  been  carefully  explained,  was  broken  by  a 
direct  act  of  disobedience,  knowingly  transgressing  the  only 
positive  prohibition  which  the  Creator  imposed  on  the  creature. 
That  act  was  a  formal  renunciation  of  the  authority  of  God;  a  de- 
liberate incurring  of  the  threatened  penalty  ;  a  wilful  surrender 
of  the  promised  reward.  So  far  as  Adam  was  personally  con- 
cerned, nothing  can  be  more  obvious  than  the  grounds  of  his  con- 
demnation. Supposing  him  to  be  bound  in  any  way  to  God, 
whether  as  his  Creator,  his  Kuler,  or  his  Saviour,  it  is  not  possi- 
ble for  us  to  imagine  a  state  of  case,  in  which  it  could  be  more 
simply  and  precisely  shown,  that  transgression  had  fundamen- 
tally violated  and  changed  the  relations  between  God  and  man. 
For  the  nature  of  that  violation  and  change,  considered  as  a 
question  of  mere  reason,  we  must  look  into  the  nature  of  the 
case  itself ;  considered  as  a  question  of  fact,  we  must  look  into 
its  results  as  exhibited  in  the  actual  state  of  man  without  the 
Gospel ;  considered  as  a  question  of  Eevelation  we  must  look  to 
the  penalty  affixed  to  the  prohibition  violated,  as  that  penalty  is 
expounded  in  the  Scriptures. 

4.  I  have  shown  in  the  previous  chapter,  when  expressly  con- 
sidering the  Covenant  of  Works,  that  the  whole  family  of  man 
was  necessarily  and  was  expressly  embraced  in  its  stipulations — 
and  must,  as  the  case  might  be,  receive  its  reward,  or  incur  its 
penalty.  Treating  now  of  the  penalty  alone,  it  may  be  proper, 
before  proceeding  to  the  statement  of  the  exact  manner  in  which 
it  was  incurred  by  Adam,  to  point  out  precisely  the  grounds 
upon  which,  under  the  case  as  it  stood,  that  penalty  must  era- 
brace  all  his  ordinary  posterity  in  the  same  ruin  which  overtook 
him.  There  are  two  great  facts,  both  of  them  clear  and  trans- 
cendent, which  unitedly  control  the  case.  The  first  is,  that 
Adam  was  the  natural  head  and  common  progenitor  of  his  race. 
The  human  family  is  not  only  of  one  blood,  as  has  been  proved 
in  another  place,  but  the  blood  of  Adam  is  that  one  blood.  The 
whole  Scriptures  are  subverted,  and  human  life  is  the  grossest  of 
all  enigmas,  if  this  be  not  true.  If  it  be  true,  nothing  is  more 
inevitable  than  that  whatever  change  may  have  been  produced 
on  the  whole  nature  of  Adam  by  his  Fall — of  which  I  shall 
speak  presently — before  the  existence  of  any  of  his  issue,  must 


488  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [b°0K  v- 

have  been  propagated  through  all  succeeding  generations.  If 
there  is  any  thing  perfectly  assured  to  us,  it  is  the  steadfastness 
of  the  order  of  nature,  in  the  perpetual  reproduction  of  all 
things  after  their  own  kind.  If  the  fall  produced  no  change  on 
the  nature  of  Adam,  it  could  produce  none  on  the  nature  of  his 
descendants.  If  it  did  produce  any  change  upon  his  nature,  it 
was  his  nature  thus  changed,  and  not  the  form  of  his  nature  be- 
fore his  fall,  which  his  posterity  must  inherit.  If  it  be  demanded, 
why  then  does  it  not  occur  that  believers  should  propagate  a  be- 
lieving offspring  ?  the  answer  is  clear  and  various.  (1)  They  are 
neither  the  original,  the  common,  the  exclusive,  nor  the  repre- 
sentative head  of  their  issue  ;  they  are  but  a  part  of  a  common 
race.  (2)  Eegeneration  is  wholly  a  moral  change — and  in  that 
sense  a  partial  change  of  human  nature  :  it  is  in  no  degree 
whatever,  a  physical  change  :  the  physical  change  analogous  to 
regeneration,  takes  place  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just  :  in  this 
life  regeneration  leaves  out  entirely  that  part  of  man's  nature  by 
which  the  race  is  propagated.  (3)  The  moral  change  produced 
on  man's  nature  is  not,  in  this  life,  absolute  ;  the  remains  of  in- 
dwelling sin  continue  in  it,  and  that  in  a  form  so  virulent,  that 
every  believer  would  relapse,  if  God's  Spirit  were  taken  from 
him.  (4)  In  effect,  to  demand  that  a  believer — should  by  natural 
generation  propagate  believers,  is  to  demand  that  the  influences 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  should  be  propagated  by  natural  generation 
through  a  being  whose  moral  nature  is  imperfectly  sanctified,  and 
whose  physical  nature  is  utterly  depraved ;  which  is  both  absurd 
and  impious. 

5.  The  Second  of  the  two  great  facts  alluded  to  is,  that  Ad- 
am was  the  Federal,  the  Representative,  the  Covenanted  head 
of  his  race,  as  well  as  its  natural  head.  That  this  was  his  posi- 
tion in  his  trial  and  his  fall,  is  the  explicit  testimony  of  the 
word  of  God,  and  the  unavoidable  effect  and  direct  purpose  of 
the  Covenant  of  Works — as  has  been  abundantly  shown.  It  is  his 
first  transgression  only,  with  which  his  race  has  this  connection. 
For  that  sin  terminated  his  trial,  involved  his  fall,  changed  his 
nature,  introduced  death  into  the  world,  and  rendered  Adam  in- 
capable of  any  further  representation  of  his  race  in  a  Covenant  of 
Life,  and  incapable  of  any  Covenant  with  God,  upon  the  condi- 
tion of  obedience.  The  covenanted  headship  of  Adam,  has  been 
already  shown,  in  another  place,  to  have  been  every  way  advan- 


CHAP    XXXII.]  FALL     OF     MAN.  489 

tageous  to  his  race,  in  its  great  trial  ;  advantageous  if  he  suc- 
ceeded, advantageous  even  if  he  fell  :  securing  all  things — or  if 
all  were  lost,  securing  the  best  possible  result  compatible  with 
such  a  loss,  and  demonstrating  at  the  same  time  that  no  other 
form  of  trial  of  the  race,  or  any  member  of  it,  would  have  been 
more  fortunate.  This,  it  may  be  alleged,  is  simply  admitting 
that  a  fallible  race  must  fall,  if  strictly  tried.  What  then  ?  I 
know  of  no  ground  on  which  the  contrary  can  be  asserted.  An 
infinite  series  of  events  all  terminating  in  the  same  way,  out  of 
two  equally  possible  ways,  is  absurd  :  and  the  first  tall,  is  ruin. 
But  a  fallible  being  may  as  readily  fall  as  not  fall  each  time  he 
is  tried  :  that  he  fell  the  Jirst  time,  only  showed  the  strength  of 
the  certainty  that  he  must  fall  sometime,  if  his  trial  goes  on.  If 
it  is  answered,  that  God  ought  not  to  create  fallible  beings,  this 
is  only  to  say  that  he  ought  not  to  create  any  beings  at  all  :  for 
as  has  been  shown,  an  infallible  created  being  is  a  contradiction 
in  terms.  If  it  is  said,  God  should  not  put  a  fallible  being  on 
trial,  this  is  merely  to  say  that  God  should  not  create  him  ;  for 
he  cannot  exist  and  act,  without  being  on  trial — until  his  trial  is 
passed.  If  it  is  said,  God  should  not  make  a  positive  covenant 
with  a  fallible  being,  this  is  merely  to  refuse  such  aid  as  God 
may  give  him  by  reducing  the  difficulties  of  probation,  dimin- 
ishing the  evils  of  failure,  and  increasing  the  motives  to  success. 
If  it  is  said,  that  God  ought  to  help  him  at  his  need,  this  is 
merely  to  confess  that,  virtually,  he  is  already  fallen,  and  only 
stands  by  grace,  which  is  passing  out  of  the  principles  of  a  falli- 
ble, into  the  principles  of  a  fallen  state.  If  it  is  said,  God  had 
better  create  him  a  sinner  at  once,  this  is  absurd  :  for  God 
neither  is,  nor  can  be,  the  immediate  author  of  that  which  is  the 
opposite  of  himself,  the  immediate  creator  of  that  which  is  hate- 
ful to  himself,  the  immediate  former  of  sin.  In  fine,  we  are  un- 
able to  conceive  of  the  direct  creation  of  either  an  infallible,  or  a 
sinful  being  :  a  perfect  but  fallible  being,  is  the  only  kind  of  ra- 
tional and  moral  being  Avhose  creation  appears  to  be  possible  : 
certainly  the  only  kind  that  ever  was  created.  The  creation 
and  fall  of  a  perfect,  but  fallible  being,  is  the  only  conceivable 
way  in  which  a  sinful  being  can  be  originally  produced  ;  and  the 
two  principles  of  natural  and  covenanted  headship  united,  fur- 
nish the  only  imaginable  solution  of  the  actual  posture  of  the 
human  race.     I  may  add  that,  logically,  the  Covenant  of  Grace 


490  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.      .  [BOOK  V. 

is  not  only  a  nullity,  but  an  impossibility,  except  as  the  sequence, 
in  thought,  of  the  broken  Covenant  of  Works. 

6.  The  principle  of  Representation,  therefore,  completes  the 
explication  of  the  whole  case,  which,  without  it,  is  insoluble  in 
many  of  its  aspects.  It  is  clearly  stated  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
in  one  form  or  other  pervades  the  universe.  Without  it,  not 
merely  the  progress,  but  the  efficient  existence  of  human  soci- 
ety, is  impossible.  So  that  we  are  hardly  in  a  position  to  find 
fault  with  its  application  in  a  case  where  that  application  was 
altogether  inevitable,  and  might  be  unspeakably  advantageous, 
while  it  could  not  possibly  increase  our  danger,  or  augment  the 
evils  of  failure.  Still,  however,  if  we  demand  further  satisfac- 
tion, we  have  only  to  turn  our  eyes  to  Calvary,  and  behold  the 
Sacrifice  of  Christ  in  the  room  and  stead  of  his  people.  This 
was  the  repetition  in  a  form  transcendently  gracious  of  that  same 
principle  of  Representation.  The  issue  of  its  first  application  in 
its  ordinary  form  was  our  ruin,  through  the  first  Adam,  under  the 
Covenant  of  Works  :  the  issue  of  the  second  great  and  gracious 
application  is,  endless  glory,  through  the  second  Adam  under 
the  Covenant  of  Grace.  He  who  has  said — as  by  one  man's  diso- 
bedience many  were  made  sinners,  has  added  in  the  same  breath 
— so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many  be  made  righteous.1  To 
reject  the  principle,  or  to  deny  the  record  of  our  death  in  Adam, 
is  at  the  same  time  to  reject  the  principle,  and  to  deny  the  rec- 
ord of  our  life  in  Christ.2 

III. — 1.  Going  back  now  to  the  original  record  of  the  case 
whose  explication  in  the  New  Testament  has  been  carefully  con- 
sidered— we  find  the  statement  of  the  Fall  of  Man  made  in  the 
eailiest  pages  of  the  Old  Testament,  to  embrace  the  following 
leading  facts  : 

(«)  The  original  suggestion  of  disobedience  to  God,  and  the 
first  temptation  to  it,  came  from  one  of  God's  creatures  of  a  dif- 
ferent race  from  man,  called  in  connection  with  this  transaction, 
the  Serpent  :3  and  called  in  other  portions  of  the  Scriptures — 
the  Great  Dragon — That  Old  Serpent — the  Devil — and  Satan.4 
This  remarkable  fact  is  full  of  significence  in  a  great  variety  of 
aspects  ;  and  appears  to  have  had  its  influence  in  a  great  variety 
of  ways,  upon  the  whole  economy  of  redemption. 

(b)  This  temptation  was  addressed  not  to  Adam  but  to  Eve; 
Horn ,  v.  19         a  1  Cor.,  xv.  21,  22.        s  Gen.,  iii.  passim.        *  Rev.,  xil  9,  sxii.  2. 


CHAP.  XXXII.]  FALL     OF     MAN.  491 

and  her  fall  appears  to  have  preceded  any  direct  attempt  upon 
Adam.1  This  important  fact  is  also  made  account  of  in  various 
ways,  in  all  the  subsequent  conditions  of  the  human  race,  and  in 
all  the  relations  of  the  sexes  to  each  other — relations  which  so 
deeply  affect  its  destiny. 

(c)  The  temptation  and  fall  of  Adam  appear  to  have  occurred 
through  the  immediate  agency  of  Eve,  after  her  own  transgres- 
sion under  the  temptation  of  Satan.2 

(d)  As  to  the  particular  method  of  the  temptation  :  both 
Adam  and  Eve  were  seduced  and  deceived  :  Eve  by  Satan — then 
Adam  by  Eve.  They  were  not  only  tempted,  but  tempted  by 
great  allurements,  which  were  false  :  and  in  the  case  of  Adam 
the  personal  influence  of  Eve  was  superadded.3 

(e)  They  were  assured  that  the  penalty  denounced  against 
transgression  would  not  be  inflicted  :  that  the  act  of  disobe- 
dience suggested  would  be  attended  with  great  increase  of 
knowledge,  and  followed  by  the  exaltation  of  their  condition  in 
the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  to  the  condition  of  God  :  to  pre- 
vent which,  it  was  insinuated,  was  the  reason  of  the  prohibition 
of  the  Tree  of  Knowledge  to  them/ 

(/)  Thus  tempted,  the  woman,  seeing  the  fruit  of  the  tree 
to  be  good  for  food,  and  pleasant  to  the  eyes,  and  to  be  desired 
to  make  one  wise,  took  thereof  and  ate  ;  and  then  gave  to  her 
husband,  and  he  ate.6 

2.  The  particular  state  of  mind  of  all  the  parties  to  this 
fearful  transaction,  seems  to  be  capable  of  distinct  appreciation. 
Satan,  who  had  himself  fallen,  revolted  against  God  and  been 
cast  out  of  heaven,  was  actuated  by  hatred  against  God,  and 
malice  against  man.0  The  Saviour  describes  him  as  a  murderer 
from  the  beginning — a  liar  also,  and  the  father  of  lies  ;  applying 
to  him  those  very  epithets,  and  declaring  him  to  be  the  father  of 
the  wicked,  and  to  be  consumed  by  the  same  lusts  that  are  mani- 
fested in  them.7  The  state  of  mind  of  our  first  parents,  precipi- 
tating their  ruin,  seems  tc  have  been  one  of  unbelief  toward 
God,  especially  with  regard  to  the  threatened  punishment  of 
transgression  ;  and  of  inordinate  desire  to  obtain  forbidden 
knowledge  by  forbidden   means,   and    thereby  as    they  vainly 

1  Gen.,  iii.  1-6, 13  ;  2  Cor.,  xi.  3.  a  Gen.,  iii.  6-12,  17 ;  1  Tim.,  ii.  14. 

8  Gen.,  iii.  -4-13  ■   2  Cor.,  xi.  3;  1  Tim.,  ii.  14.  *  Gen.,  iii.  4,  5. 

*  Gea,  iii.  6.  6  Rev.,  xii.  7-9.  7  John,  viii.  44. 


492  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

hoped  a  certain  equality  with  God.  Nor  does  the  narrative  per- 
mit us  to  overlook  the  suggestion  of  so  low  an  impulse  as  intem- 
perate appetite  ;  or  to  omit  their  mutual  weakness  springing 
from  inordinate  mutual  affection,  which  led  Eve  to  become  the 
instrument  of  Adam's  seduction,  and  Adam  to  yield  to  that  in- 
fluence. These  things  are  infinitely  remarkable,  as  opening  to 
us  an  insight  upon  divine  authority,  into  the  workings  of  perfect 
but  fallible  souls,  and  into  the  actual  state  of  them  proximate  to 
their  fall.  So  far  from  being  worthy  of  the  supercilious  con- 
tempt of  shallow  unbelief — they  are  the  sole  fragments  of  a 
psychological  state  utterly  and  forever  departed,  out  of  which  we 
are  to  construe,  as  we  may,  the  widest  and  the  most  intricate  of 
all  problems.  Unbelief — inordinate  desire  of  forbidden  knowledge 
— presumptuous  aspirations  after  equality  with  God — the  pride 
of  the  eye — the  lust  of  the  appetite — the  inordinate  mutual  devo- 
tion of  loving  hearts  :  now  add  to  these,  credulity  under  skilful 
temptation — and  we  have  all  the  known  immediate  elements  of 
the  inward  state,  which  resulted  in  the  first  transgression. 

3.  The  outward  transgression  followed  as  a  result  of  this  in- 
ward state.  The  soul,  thus  working,  yielded  under  the  tempta- 
tion with  which  it  was  assailed.  The  outward  act  was  the 
unmistakable  proof  of  the  previous  inward  consent.  Its  perpe- 
tration put  the  whole  case  out  of  the  reach  of  any  remedy 
belonging  to  the  Covenant  under  which  man  stood,  or  the  imme- 
diate scheme  of  things  under  which  he  was  created.  The  trial 
was  over  :  the  reward  was  forfeited  :  the  penalty  was  incurred. 
The  Covenant  of  Works  was  no  longer  a  Covenant  of  Life.  The 
Keligion  of  Nature  was  no  longer  adequate  :  for  man  had  passed 
over  from  the  condition  of  a  creature  only,  to  the  condition  of  a 
sinner.  And  God  must  execute  with  unalterable  justice  the 
Laws  of  Nature,  and  the  penalty  of  his  violated  Covenant,  or  he 
must  supplement  his  relations  of  infinite  Creator  and  Euler,  with 
the  new  relation  of  infinite  Redeemer  !  What  has  been  done 
may,  as  we  now  know,  be  repaired  by  some  mystery  of  Grace  : 
but  it  can  never  be  undone. 

4.  The  issue  of  the  trial  of  the  human  race  in  Adam — and 
by  consequence  the  issue  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  must  have 
been  as  well  known  to  God  before  as  after  the  event.  It  must 
also  have  been  as  well  known  to  him  before  as  after,  what  course 
he  would  take  with  the  human  race,  upon  the  fall  of  man.     But 


CIIAr.  XXXII.]  FALL     OF      M  A  H .  493 

this  is  only  another  mode  of  stating,  that  the  Fall  of  Man,  and 
the  course  to  be  taken  afterwards,  were  as  much  considered  and 
provided  for — that  is,  were  as  really  parts  of  the  great  scheme  of 
Creation  and  Providence,  as  any  other  parts  thereof.  Nay  the 
manifestation  of  the  Covenaut  of  Grace,  incident  to  the  Fall  of 
man,  and  the  development  of  it  through  time  and  eternity,  was 
the  great  means  foreordained  for  the  glory  of  God  in  connection 
with  the  whole  scheme  of  Creation  and  Providence.  There  is,  no 
doubt,  a  very  wide  difference  between  knowing  and  determining  : 
and  therefore  between  foreknowledge  and  foreordination.  But 
when  the  knowing  and  the  determining,  the  foreknowledge  and 
the  foreordination.  are  united  in  the  same  infinite  mind  and  be- 
come acts  of  the  infinite  intelligence  and  infinite  will,  of  the  very 
same  omniscient  and  omnipotent  being,  who  is  himself  the 
ground,  and  cause,  and  end,  as  well  of  all  things  known,  as  of  all 
things  actual :  such  distinctions  cease  to  afford  any  refuge 
against  the  naked  and  sublime  light  which  blinds  us.  Moreover, 
to  us  who  are  the  dependent  objects  both  of  the  foreknowledge 
and  the  foreordination  of  the  one,  and  the  only,  infinite  and  per- 
sonal God,  who  is  not  only  the  infinite  First  Cause  of  all  things, 
but  the  Omnipresent  Eider  of  all  things  ;  these  distinctions  are 
of  no  particular  moment,  and  have  no  practical  force.  Nothing 
can  be  known  as  actually  existing  that  does  not  actually  exist  : 
and  nothing  can  exist  actually,  but  by  the  will  of  God  :  while 
all  that  is  known  by  God  as  merely  possible — is  nothing  to  us. 
In  this  great  case  we  have  the  whole  Word  of  God  and  the 
whole  Providence  of  God,  added  to  the  unavoidable  conclusions 
of  our  own  reason,  attesting  the  reality  of  God's  foreordaining  as 
well  as  foreknowing  action,  touching  the  overthrow  of  the  Gov- 
enant  of  Works  as  a  Covenant  of  Life — the  entrance  of  sin  into 
the  universe — and  the  ruin  of  the  human  race.  This  great  ca- 
tastrophe did  not  take  God  by  surprise. 

.".  Whatever  method  we  may  see  fit  to  adopt  in  order  to  dis- 
cover or  explain  the  intimate  cause  of  Adam's  first  sin,  we  must 
see,  and  we  must  acknowledge  when  we  deal  fairly  with  ourselves 
and  the  great  theme,  that  the  result  was  the  consequence,  not 
of  any  want  of  ability  on  the  part  of  God,  but  of  his  exact  adher- 
ence to  the  principles  of  the  scheme  he  had  adopted.  It  is  im- 
pious to  say  that  God  cannot  do  any  thing  that  does  not  involve 
a  contradiction  ;  it  is  equally  impious  to  say  he  can  do  anything 


494  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

wrong.  In  effect,  nothing  is  more  universal,  even  to  the  unregen- 
erate,  than  that  they  are  restrained  by  God  ;  nothing  is  more 
universal  to  believers  than  that  they  are  delivered  from  tempta- 
tion. It  will  not  do  for  us  to  say  absolutely  that  God  could  not 
have  bestowed  upon  Adam  strength  adequate  to  his  trial ;  all 
we  can  say  is,  that  this  could  not  be  done  upon  the  principles 
of  the  precise  trial  then  made.  For  the  Fall  of  Man  to  have  been 
prevented  by  the  interposition  of  God,  would  have  required  the 
whole  economy  of  the  Covenant  of  Works  to  have  been  arranged 
upon  different  principles  and  to  widely  different  ends  ;  and  there- 
fore we  must  say,  of  necessity,  that  such  an  interposition  could 
not  have  occurred  according  to  the  special  method  and  objects  of 
that  covenant  and  that  trial  under  it.  Upon  this  general  basis 
we  may  proceed  with  our  explanations  :  saying  that  Adam  fell 
because  he  was  left  to  the  freedom  of  his  own  will ;  or  saying 
that  the  Fall  was  the  result  of  the  abuse  of  his  moral  liberty  ;  or 
saying,  as  I  have  done,  that,  first  or  last,  it  was  the  inevitable 
result  of  a  strict  and  permanent  trial  of  a  perfect  but  fallible 
creature,  and  was  hastened  and  assured  in  this  case  by  great 
external  temptation  ;  or  we  may  give  any  other  account  that 
pleases  us  of  that  most  difficult  and  obscure  matter,  provided  we 
will  scrupulously  respect  on  one  side  the  absolute  sovereignty  of 
God,  and,  on  the  other  side,  the  absolute  dependence  of  man. 

6.  Let  all  that,  however,  be  as  it  may,  we  are  not  to  suppose 
for  a  moment  that  the  claims  of  God  upon  us  are  reduced  in  the 
least,  much  less  that  they  are  set  aside,  by  the  breach  of  the 
Covenant  of  Works  and  the  Fall  of  Man.  Adam  was  as  much 
obliged  by  the  law  of  his  being  to  obey  God  in  all  things,  as  he 
was  obliged  by  the  Covenant  of  Works  to  obey  God  in  the  addi- 
tional matters  specified  in  that  Covenant.  Those  additional 
matters  touched  his  deliverance,  on  one  side,  from  the  risk  of 
ruin  which  attached  to  his  fallibility,  and,  on  the  other  side,  the 
confirmation,  security,  and  eternal  augmentation  of  the  bless- 
edness which  attached  to  his  perfection.  But  they  were  the 
farthest  possible  from  contemplating  the  least  diminution,  in  any 
event,  of  God's  infinite  dominion  or  man's  absolute  dependence 
and  accountability.  We  might  as  well  say  the  law  of  the  land  is 
abolished  as  soon  as  it  is  transgressed.  Whatever  force  the  Law 
of  Man's  being,  the  Law  of  Nature,  the  Moral  Law,  or  the  Cove- 
nant of  Works  ever  had,  as  a  rule  of  duty,  a  rule  of  judgment,  or 


CHAP.  XXXII.]  FALL     OF     MAN.  495 

a  rule  of  punishment,  remained  after  the  fall  of  man  precisely 
as  before  ;  and  if  God  had  added  nothing  more  after  that  catas- 
trophe, nothing  as  to  any  of  those  Laws  had  been  changed,  ex- 
cept that  neither  by  all  of  them,  nor  by  any  of  them,  could  man 
any  longer  obtain  the  favor  of  God.  None  of  them  had  any 
thing  to  do  with  transgression  but  to  reveal  it,  to  forbid  it,  to 
condemn  it,  and  to  punish  it.  Thus  they  still  abide  in  all  their 
force,  and  however  modified  or  supplemented  by  the  Covenant 
of  Grace,  they  are  not  only  respected  but  executed  under  that 
Covenant  ;  all  of  which  is  clearly  set  before  us  in  the  condition 
of  man  immediately  consequent  upon  his  fall,  and  in  the  sen- 
tence passed  by  God  upon  all  the  parties  to  that  fall,  to  which 
we  now  proceed. 

IV. — 1.  The  immediate  effects  of  transg7-ession  upon  Adam  and 
Eve  are  recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  briefly  indeed  but  with  great 
emphasis.  The  evidences  that  their  perfection  was  gone,  that 
their  fitness  for  communion  with  God  was  lost,  that  sin,  and 
shame,  and  terror  had  become  the  heritage  of  our  fallen  race,  are 
set  before  us.  The  mode  in  which  this  intimate  change  was  pro- 
duced in  the  nature  of  man  by  transgression  is,  like  all  the  great 
problems  of  our  being,  full  of  intricacy  in  its  last  analysis. 
Something  will  be  said  about  it  presently  in  explicating  the  na- 
ture of  original  sin.     The  facts  are  these,  namely  : 

(a)  The  eyes  of  Adam  and  Eve  were  opened,  as  soon  as  they 
had  eaten  of  the  fruit  of  the  Tree  of  Knowledge  of  Good  and 
Evil.  The  fatal  knowledge  they  had  sought  at  so  great  a  cost, 
was  obtained.  They  now  knew  Evil  as  well  as  Good.  They 
already  knew  whether  this  would  make  them  as  Gods,  according 
to  the  promise  of  Satan — or  cast  them  down  from  their  high 
estate,  according  to  the  threat  of  God.1 

(b)  They  were  immediately  filled  with  shame  :  the  particu- 
lar object  of  it  being  their  own  nakedness,  of  which  it  is  ex- 
pressly said  they  had  not  previously  been  ashamed  :  and  the 
general  cause  of  it  being  their  sense  of  exposure,  depravity,  and 
self-aversion.  The  first  use  of  their  fatal  knowledge  is  to  discern 
that  shame  is  the  first  fruit  of  a  transition  from  life  to  death — 
from  the  service  of  God  to  the  service  of  Satan.2 

(c)  They  were  immediately  filled  with  terror  of  God  :  they 
fled  from  the  voice  of  God  :  they  avoided  his  presence  :    they 

1  Gen.,  iii.  7.  *  Gen.,  iii.  8,  10,  11. 


496  THE    KNOWLEDGE     OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V, 

sought  to  hide  themselves  from  him.  Then  came  the  fearful 
challenge  of  God — the  direct  personal  representation  of  their 
guilt — their  own  confession  and  account  of  their  transgression — 
both  of  them  and  Satan  confronting  one  another,  and  confounded 
before  God.1 

2.  Then  followed  the  formal  sentence  of  God  upon  these 
fallen  creatures — and  upon  their  tempter — and  upon  the  earth 
itself  for  man's  sake.  In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou 
shalt  surely  die.3  They  had  eaten,  and  their  plea  had  been  heard. 
The  woman  thou  gavest  me,  said  Adam — to  be  with  me,  she 
gave  me  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  eat.3  Exactly  true — but  wholly 
insufficient :  mercies  bestowed  are  the  last  excuse  for  the  sinful 
use  of  them.  The  Serpent  beguiled  me — said  Eve — and  I  did 
eat.4  True  again — but  insufficient :  dallying  with  temptation, 
she  was  easily  seduced  herself,  and  became  at  once  the  willing 
seducer  of  her  husband — for  which  last  wickedness  she  offered  no 
excuse.     Satan  offered  no  plea. 

(a)  And  the  Lord  God  said  unto  the  Serpent,  Because  thou 
hast  done  this,  thou  art  cursed  above  all  cattle,  and  above  every 
beast  of  the  field  :  upon  thy  belly  shalt  thou  go,  and  dust  shalt 
thou  eat  all  the  days  of  thy  life  :  and  I  will  put  enmity  between 
thee  and  the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed  :  it 
shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel.6 

(b)  And  unto  the  woman  he  said,  I  will  greatly  multiply  thy 
sorrow  and  thy  conception  :  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  bring  forth 
children  ;  and  thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  husband,  and  he  shall 
rule  over  thee.6 

(c)  And  unto  Adam  he  said,  Because  thou  hast  hearkened 
unto  the  voice  of  thy  wife,  and  hast  eaten  of  the  tree,  of  which  I 
commanded  thee,  saying,  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it,  cursed  is  the 
ground  for  thy  sake  ;  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days 
of  thy  life  :  thorns  also  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee  ; 
and  thou  shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the  field.  In  the  sweat  of  thy 
face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till  thou  return  unto  the  ground  ;  for 
out  of  it  wast  thou  taken  :  for  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt 
thou  return.7 

(d)  Then  came  the  commencement  of  the  execution  of  this 
sentence  of  God.     It  is,  so  to  speak,  an  interlocutory  sentence, 

1  Gen.,  iii.  8-13.  2  Gen.,  ii.  17.  3  Gen.,  iii.  12. 

*  Gen.,  iii.  13.         6  Gen.,  iii.  14,  15.        °  Gen.,  iii.  16.  '  Gen.,  iii.  17-19. 


CHAP.  XXXII.]  FALL     OF     MAX.  497 

extending  from  the  fall  till  the  final  judgment ;  when  the  com- 
plete result  of  the  whole  penalty  of  trausgression  will  be  made 
finally  manifest,  and  full  and  eternal  sentence  pass,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  all  worlds.  God  dravc  forth  the  man  from  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  from  the  Tree  of  Life,  and  from  his  own  presence. 
Man's  toils  and  sorrows  on  earth  began.  And  Cherubim,  and  a 
flaming  sword  turning  in  all  directions,  kept  the  way  of  the  tree 
of  life.  Who  shall  find  a  way  of  return  for  a  race  thrust  out  by 
God  himself?' 

3.  Terrible  as  this  sentence  is — let  us  comprehend  clearly 
that  it  is  not  tiie  full — the  final  sentence  of  the  great  day  :  that 
the  complete  penalty  denounced  by  God.  upon  transgression,  is 
stayed,  both  as  to  itsrcutterance  and  execution.  The  great  thing 
to  be  noted  is,  how  completely  every  part  of  the  case,  and  every 
word  uttered  by  God,  proceeds  upon  the  idea  that  our  race  is 
undone,  that  sin  has  made  its  lodgment  in  the  earth — that  all 
things  underlie  the  curse  of  God  and  the  penalty  of  death.  The 
curse  of  God  is  denounced  on  Satan,  for  his  part  in  the  ruin  of  man. 
For  man's  sake,  who  pollutes  the  earth — it  also  is  cursed.  Upon 
woman,  sorrow,  and  subjection :  sorrow  mixed  up  forever  with 
her  tenderest  cares  and  joys— subjection  clouding  forever  the 
course  of  her  truest  love  :  sorrow  and  subjection  recalling  even 
as  she  gives  life  and  as  she  confers  bliss,  that  the  ruin  of  the  uni  - 
verse  came  through  her  weakness  and  by  means  of  her  seduction. 
Upon  the  man — toil — endless,  unrequited  toil :  bread  painfully 
earned — eaten  in  bitterness — coined  out  of  his  very  life  :  life 
itself — boundlessly  degraded  from  its  glorious  primeval  form — 
lost  in  fruitless  struggles  having  no  higher  aim  than  its  own 
weary  continuance — and  no  loftier  hope  than  the  dust  from 
which  he  came,  and  to  which  he  tends.  All  this  too,  but  the 
beginning  of  wo  :  but  the  first  line  of  an  existence  to  be  writ- 
ten always  in  tears,  and  polluted  with  blood — always  :  but  the 
outer  form  of  a  being  of  which  the  inner  life  is  steeped  in  sin 
and  misery.  Alas  !  is  not  Evil  in  the  world  ?  Have  we  not 
found  its  source — its  origin  ?  Can  any  mortal  transport  himself 
into  the  Garden  of  Eden  the  day  before  the  fall  of  man — and  do 
it  again  the  day  after  that  fall — and  doubt  any  longer  ? 

4.  The  mode  in  which  human  nature  passed  over,  by  trans- 
gression, through  the  channel  of  its  fallibility,  from  a  state  of 

1  Gen.,  iii  22-24. 
23 


498  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

perfection  to  a  state  of  depravity — may  be  understood  as  fully 
by  saying,  it  lias  lost  the  image  of  God,  as  we  are  capable  of 
understanding  it.  The  natural  condition  of  the  human  race, 
after  the  point  now  reached  in  its  career,  is  one  of  sin  and  mis- 
cry — as  I  have  shown  at  large,  in  another  place.  Misery  being 
only  the  product  of  sin  and  inseparable  from  it,  need  not  be 
specially  considered  here  :  and  all  actual  sins,  in  all  their  forms, 
being  the  product  of  original  sin,  which  is  their  source  and  root, 
may  also  be  passed  over  at  present.  That  state  of  our  nature 
which  we  express  by  the  words  Original  Sin,  consists  in  the  guilt 
of  Adam's  first  sin,  the  want  of  that  original  righteousness  in 
which  he  was  created,  and  the  corruption  of  our  whole  nature 
itself.  By  calling  this  Original  Sin,  we  intend  to  say,  it  is  a 
state  and  not  an  act,  and  that  it  is  congenital.  By  Nature  we 
mean  the  sum  of  all  the  forces,  spiritual,  moral,  intellectual  and 
physical,  which  make  up  our  being,  and  give  it  its  peculiar 
character.  This  therefore  is  the  sense  of  the  general  statement; 
having  by  the  fall  lost  the  image  of  God  in  which  we  were 
created,  we  are  fallen  into  an  estate  of  sin,  and  the  present  con- 
dition of  our  nature  is  a  condition  averse  to  God,  opposite  to 
him,  and  hateful  to  him.  The  elements  of  this  condition,  that 
is  the  nature  of  this  congenital  or  original  sin,  summarily  stated 
above,  may  be  more  fully  set  forth,  as  follows  : 

(a)  Its  first  element  is  the  guilt  of  Adam's  first  sin.  By 
which  is  meant  that  on  account  of  our  natural  and  covenanted 
relations  with  Adam,  we  are  considered  and  treated  precisely  as 
we  would  have  been,  if  each  one  of  us  had  personally  done  what 
Adam  did.  The  guilt  of  Adam's  first  sin  is  imputed  to  his 
posterity.  There  is  doubtless  a  wide  difference  between  imputed 
sin,  and  inherent  sin.  We  however  have  both — and  that  natu- 
rally ;  and  it  tends  only  to  error  to  attempt  to  explicate  either 
of  them  in  disregard  of  the  other,  or  to  separate  what  God  has 
indissolubly  united,  namely,  our  double  relation  to  Adam.  It  is 
infinitely  certain,  that  God  would  never  make  a  legal  fiction  a 
pretext  to  punish  as  sinners,  dependent  and  helpless  creatures 
who  were  actually  innocent.  The  imputation  of  our  sins  to 
Christ,  affords  no  pretext  for  such  a  statement  ;  because  that 
was  done  by  the  express  consent  of  Christ,  and  was,  in  every  re- 
spect, the  most  stupendous  proof  of  divine  grace.  Nor  is  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  ever  imputed  for  justification,  except  to 


Cn.VP.  XXXII.]  FALL     OF     MAN.  499 

the  elect :  nor  ever  received  except  by  faith,  which  is  a  grace  of 
the  Spirit  peculiar  to  the  renewed  soul.  In  like  manner  the  sin 
of  Adam  is  imputed  to  us,  but  never  irrespective  of  our  nature 
and  its  inherent  sin.  That  is,  we  must  not  attempt  to  separate 
Adam's  federal  from  his  natural  headship — by  the  union  ol 
which  he  is  the  Boot  of  the  human  race  :  since  we  have  not  a 
particle  of  reason  to  believe  that  the  former  would  ever  have  ex- 
isted without  the  latter.  Nay  Christ  to  become  our  federal 
head,  had  to  take  our  nature.1 

(b)  The  second  element  in  Original  Sin,  is  our  natural  desti- 
tution of  that  original  righteousness,  in  which  Adam  was  created. 
We  have  not  only  lost  the  image  of  God  in  knowledge,  right- 
eousness, and  true  holiness,  and  had  that  image  defaced  in  all 
things  :  but  we  are  naturally  destitute  of  those  communications 
of  God's  grace,  whereby  the  image  of  God  was  kept  alive  in  the 
soul  of  Adam.  Perfection  and  fallibility  can  consist  together; 
that  is,  perfection  can  so  exist  in  a  dependent  creature  as  to  be 
capable  of  being  lost  by  disobedience  to  God.  But  it  would  be 
absurd  to  say  it  can  exist  after  it  is  lost  :  that  is  after  the  falli- 
bility has  ended  in  transgression.  And  this  is  what  occurred  to 
Adam  :  and  what  by  reason  of  our  connection  with  him  as  our 
natural  and  federal  head  re-appears  in  us.  The  guilt  of  his  sin 
is  not  only  imputed  to  us,  but  the  effects  of  that  sin  upon  his 
nature,  are  also  manifested  in  us  :  the  most  immediate  of  which 
effects  is  the  terrible  loss  and  destitution  herein  set  forth,  and  by 
reason  of  which  our  nature  has  ceased  to  be  competent  to  the 
enjoyment  of  God,  or  fit  for  his  service.2 

(d)  We  must  add  as  the  third  element  the  corruption  of  our 
whole  nature.  It  is  net  enough  to  say,  sin  is  justly  imputed  to 
us  :  it  is  not  enough  to  add,  that  our  nature  has  incurred  the 
most  fearful  privations,  even  to  the  extent  of  being  dead  in  sin  : 
we  must  add,  that  we  are  naturally  defiled  in  all  the  faculties 
and  parts  of  our  soul  and  our  body.  It  is  not  only  that  we  are 
disabled  and  indisposed  to  all  that  is  spiritually  good  :  but 
we  are  naturally  wholly  inclined  to  all  spiritual  evil,  and  that 
continually.  Of  course  it  is  not  meant,  that  we  are  thus  inclined 
to  what  we  consider  evil,  with  a  bias  thus  continual  and  uni- 
versal. For  we  still  perceive  that  there  is  a  distinction  between 
Good  and  Evil — and  are  still  affected  by  that  distinction.     But 

1  Rom.,  v.  12-19  ;  1  Cor.,  xv.  22.  2  Rom.,  viii.  5-8  ;  Eph.,  iv.  18. 


500  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

it  is  meant,  that  in  point  of  absolute  truth  and  in  the  estimation 
of  an  infinitely  right  mind — our  nature  is  thus  utterly  depraved. 
And  our  depraved  moral  sense  which  calls  good  evil  and  evil 
good,  so  far  from  lowering  the  tone  of  the  just  judgment  of  God 
concerning  our  polluted  nature  ;  only  makes  it  the  more  mani- 
fest how  thorough  and  how  universal  that  depravity  must  be, 
which  pollutes  our  only  natural  guide  in  what  is  good — the  con- 
science itself.1 

5.  Having,  partly  for  the  sake  of  brevity  and  partly  under 
the  force  of  a  strict  method,  omitted  the  consideration  of  all 
actual  sin,  as  well  as  of  the  misery  whicli  flows  from  sin  :  it  may 
be  the  more  proper  to  reiterate  the  universal  sweep  of  this  orig- 
inal sin,  which  is  the  root  in  us  of  all  sin  and  all  misery.  The 
soul  itself  and  all  its  powers,  the  mind  and  all  its  faculties,  the 
body  and  all  its  parts,  the  essence  of  the  soul  and  the  essence  of 
the  body  and  all  the  issues  of  both  :  all  these  are  but  parts  of 
that  one  nature  of  man — whicli  is  but  the  sum  of  all  the  forces 
that  make  up  his  being.  All  are  under  the  curse  of  the  broken 
Covenant — under  the  penalty  of  the  violated  law  of  God.  Each 
in  its  degree  and  according  to  its  kind,  and  all  unitedly  underlie 
the  divine  malediction.  In  our  attempts  to  analyze  a  subject  so 
immense,  as  is  presented  by  the  practical  operation  of  a  power 
like  this  upon  the  life  of  the  human  race  ;  it  is  of  the  greatest 
account  to  discover,  if  we  can,  some  exact  principle  upon  which 
we  may  distribute,  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  such  results  of  the 
fall  of  man  as  are  strictly  penal,  and  sucli  as  are  to  be  considered 
merely  incidental,  in  the  case  of  each  particular  person.  I  con- 
tent myself  with  offering,  without  comment,  the  following  solu- 
tion. In  the  first  place,  all  sin  of  every  kind,  is  a  penal  result  to 
every  human  being — exactly  to  the  extent  that  it  is  incurred  ; 
and  every  one  is  liable  to  incur  it  all.  In  the  second  place,  every 
form  of  misery  whicli  is  indissolubly  connected  with  every  form  of 
sin  is  penal  to  him  on  whom  thus  falls  :  but  those  forms  of  misery 
— of  which  the  number  is  so  great  and  the  suffering  so  sharp — 
which  come  upon  us  by  other  means  than  our  own  sins,  are  not 
to  us  penal .:  but  are  only  incidents  to  our  general  sinful  con- 
dition and  to  our  abode  in  a  world  that  is  accursed,  and  do  al- 
ways work  together  with  all  things  else,  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God.2 

1  Gen.,  vL  5 ;  Mat.,  xv.  19,  20.  *  Eom.,  viii.  28. 


CHAP.  XXXII.]  FALL      OF     MIX,  501 

6.  It  is  worth  while  to  remember  what  we  lost  by  sin,  and 
what  it  may  still  further  cost  us  :  and  thus  keep  before  our 
minds  and  hearts  the  solemn  account  of  our  fall.  Even  the  most 
partial  summary  is  full  of  awful  import.  For  we  have  lost  the 
image  of  God,  his  favor  and  all  communion  with  him.     We  have 

our  exalted  dominion  over  the  creatures.  Our  lives  have 
been  curtailed  to  a  span.  We  have  become  slaves  to  our  com- 
monest physical  necessities,  our  very  existence  being  a  mere 
struggle  for  food  and  raiment,  and  against  disease  and  pain. 
"We  have  lost  that  vast  intelligence,  and  that  boundless  capacity 
for  knowledge  which  made  us  like  God ;  and  have  forfeited 
that  perfection  and  felicity  which  made  us  blessed  in  ourselves, 
lovely  to  each  other,  and  objects  of  satisfaction  to  God  himself. 
We  have  surrendered  all  claim  upon  every  promise  of  God  for  a 
future  life  of  blessedness,  have  become  naturally  destitute  even 
of  the  assurance  that  there  is  such  a  life,  and  darkness,  and  wo, 
and  ruin,  have  settled  upon  our  race.  Moreover,  we  underlie  an 
eternal  sentence,  which  is  only  respited  till  we  awaken  from  this 
dream  of  life.  We  have  incurred  the  penalty  of  the  violated 
law  of  God,  and  the  curse  of  his  broken  Covenant.  A  penalty 
and  a  curse,  which  press  upon  us  every  moment  of  our  lives,  and 
;h  us  down  and  bind  us  for  time  and  for  eternity.  And  to 
n  all,  there  is  no  conceivable  way  of  escape  for  us,  nor  one 
ray  of  light  or  mercy,  except  in  the  infinite  love  we  have  outraged, 
the  infinite  goodness  we  have  despised  ! 

7.  As  we  look  out  from  a  condition  so  appalling,  what  hope 
have  we  ?  Our  first  parents,  as  they  passed  out  of  the  gate  of 
Eden,  departing  to  return  no  more,  saw  that  strange  and  bewil- 
dering, but  universal  token  of  the  divine  presence,  God's  Cheru- 
bim, standing  there  beside  the  darning  sword.  And  then  they 
might  recall,  what  in  their  terror  they  had  overlooked.  God  had 
not  executed  outright,  the  full  penalty  of  transgression.  He 
had  not  even  reuttered  it  in  all  its  extent  :  and  his  divine  for- 
bearance must  have  a  meaning.  Then  they  would  remember, 
that  when  he  cursed  Satan,  he  dropped  some  wondrous  words 
about  a  Promised   Seed,  and  a   great  Warfare,  and  a  strange 

•ry  ;  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman,  and 
between  thy  seed  and  her  seed  :  it  shall  bruise  thy  head  and  thou 
shalt  bruise  his  heel.1     Let  God  be  forever  blessed  and  magni- 

1  Genesis,  iii.  15. 


502  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

tied,  for  these  infinitely  pregnant  words !  They  changed,  in- 
stantly and  forever,  the  destiny  of  the  human  race  and  of  the 
whole  universe.  It  was  no  longer  a  race  and  a  universe  under 
the  mere  curse  of  God  :  but  it  became  a  race  and  a  universe, 
under  God's  curse,  but  loith  God's  promise  of  deliverance  !  That 
is  the  exact  posture  still :  under  God's  curse,  but  with  God's 
promise.  Every  succeeding  age  has  witnessed  the  progress  of 
this  promise  to  completion.  The  whole  career  of  man  is  one 
endless  struggle  under  that  curse,  toward  that  promise.  The 
whole  Scriptures  are  one  perpetual  development  of  this  prime- 
val utterance  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace.  The  entire  course  of 
Providence  is  one  vast  amplification  of  it.  A  single  utterance  of 
sovereign  goodness,  filling  up  the  gulf  between  the  first  Way  of 
Life,  closed  forever — and  the  new  and  better  Way  of  Life,  which 
no  one  is  able  to  close.  The  ruin  of  the  Fall,  and  the  glories  of 
Kedemption,  face  to  face  for  the  first  time.  How  can  we  fill 
our  minds  with  the  import  of  this  promise,  and  contemplate 
what  has  resulted  from  it,  without  feeling  the  profoundest  con- 
viction that  these  are  indeed  the  words  of  God  ?  Behold,  after 
so  many  thousands  of  years,  how  they  are  still  replenished  with 
divine  fidelity  and  power,  bearing  all  things  forward  to  their 
sublime  and  eternal  consummation  ! 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

THE  BUM  AND  RESULT  OF  HUMAN  EXISTENCE:  WITH  THE  SUM  AND 
RESULT  OF  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD  OBJECTIVELY  CONSIDERED. 

T.  1.  Efficacy  of  the  method  pursued,  and  certainty  of  the  results  reached. — 2.  The 
closeness  of  the  union  between  the  Knowledge  of  ourselves  and  of  God. — 3.  And 
between  the  Objective  and  Subjective  Knowledge  of  God. — II.  1.  General  appre- 
ciation of  the  human  race,  considered  in  its  unity. — 2.  General  statement  of  tho 
divine  acts  and  means,  directed  toward  its  recovery. — 3.  Effects  of  divine  Knowl- 
edge upon  it. — L  Its  perilous  and  transitory  Estate. — 5.  Its  impending  catastro- 
phe. Its  period  known  only  to  God.  Condition  of  the  human  Race,  of  the  Church 
of  God,  and  of  individual  Professors,  when  it  shall  occur. — G.  Solution  of  all 
things,  at  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord. — 7.  Sum  and  Result  of  Mortal  Exist- 
ence, responsive  to  the  sum  and  result  of  the  Knowledge  of  God. — III.  1.  Our 
destiny  personally  considered,  under  the  sum  of  the  Truths  reached. — 2.  Both 
Covenants  contemplated,  individually,  every  being  embraced  in  them. — 3.  How 
pollution  occurs  to  every  soul.  How  restoration  occurs  to  every  Elect  soul. — 4. 
Reprobation  and  Election. — 5.  Career  of  the  Reprobate  and  the  Elect :  how  far 
commoD,  how  far  different :  exposition  of  both. — IV.  1.  Solution  of  the  grand 
Problems  of  Mortal  Existence. — 2.  Perdition  of  Man. — 3.  Salvation  of  Man. — 4. 
Method  of  God's  Glory,  in  both. — 5.  Infallible  certainty  of  the  Knowledge  of 
God. 

I. — 1.  With  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  human  race  in  its 
present  estate,  we  have  now  arrived  at  the  same  result  by  two 
different  methods,  and  from  two  opposite  quarters  ;  and  these 
the  only  methods  by  which  we  could  ascertain  that  condition 
with  certainty,  the  only  quarters  from  which  we  could  obtain 
certain  knowledge.  In  the  commencement  of  our  inquiry  in 
the  earlier  Chapters  of  the  First  Book,  by  a  method  intended 
to  be  inductive  and  exhaustive,  man  was  subjected,  as  he  lives 
before  us,  to  a  careful  scrutiny  :  and  again,  at  the  end  of  our  in- 
quiry, in  the  preceding  Chapters  of  this  Fifth  Book,  mounting  to 
the  original  creation  of  man,  and  pursuing  a  method  intended 
to  be  deductive  and  exhaustive,  God's  work  of  creation  and  his 
original  dealings  with  man,  and  man's  conduct  and  destiny 
therein,  have  been  subjected  to  a  similar  scrutiny.  In  this  way, 
and  by  the  use  of  all  the  light  allowed  to  us  in  £he  settlement  of 


504  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

questions  of  this  sort,  we  arrive  at  certain  knowledge  concerning 
the  present  condition  of  man,  and  concerning  the  manner  in 
which  that  condition  became  what  it  is  :  and  the  exact  accord- 
ance of  the  result  which  our  first  scrutiny  proved  to  he  actual, 
with  the  result  which  our  second  scrutiny  showed  to  be  inevi- 
table, is  a  conclusive  proof  of  the  efficacy  of  the  method,  and  of 
the  certainty  of  the  result  thus  doubly  reached. 

2.  In  the  whole  of  both  of  these  processes  a  certain  amount 
of  the  knowledge  of  God  was  involved  at  every  step  ;  and  that 
knowledge  necessarily  increased  from  step  to  step.  It  would 
be  perfectly  natural  and  obvious  now  to  proceed  with  the  devel- 
opment of  the  whole  remaining  Knowledge  of  God  attainable  by 
man,  from  the  point  reached  in  the  close  of  the  last  chapter,  and 
recapitulate,  from  that  point  of  view,  the  substance  of  all  remain- 
ing divine  truth  exhibited  throughout  this  Treatise.  Starting 
from  the  position  each  one  of  us  actually  occupies  to-day,  and 
going  steadily  onward  in  the  natural  development  of  the  whole 
attainable  knowledge  of  God,  we  soon  discover  that  our  knowl- 
edge of  what  God  now  is  and  does,  involves  the  knowledge  of 
what  God  has  always  been  and  done,  and  will  hereafter  be  and 
do  ;  and  that  the  complete  present  knowledge,  even  of  ourselves, 
involves  not  only  the  knowledge  of  all  our  past  and  all  our 
future,  but  also  the  Knowledge  of  God.  The  knowledge  of  our 
present  condition  and  the  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  it 
occurred,  is  completely  attainable  only  through  the  Knowledge 
of  God  :  and  so  much  of  it  as  is  attainable  without  the  Knowl- 
edge of  God,  is  utterly  inexplicable  without  that  knowledge.  But 
the  whole  of  our  future  destiny  lies  in  the  grossest  darkness,  except 
as  the  light  of  God  himself  chases  that  darkness  away.  And 
most  especially,  all  that  can  be  of  the  least  advantage  to  us  in 
delivering  us  from  our  present  estate  of  sin  and  misery,  and  from 
the  eternal  perdition  which  we  see  no  means  of  escaping  ;  must 
come  to  us  along  with  the  true  Knowledge  of  God,  and  must 
come  from  God  himself:  so  intimately  is  all  our  true  knowledge 
of  our  own  nature,  origin,  condition,  and  destiny  connected  with 
our  true  Knowledge  of  God. 

3.  It  is  in  this  manner  that  the  question  of  the  Divine  Ex- 
istence, and  the  question  of  the  Immortality  of  man,  lie  so  close 
to  each  other  at  the  foundation  of  every  profitable  method  of 
inquiry  into  this  great  subject.     It  is  in  this  manner  that  the 


CHAP.  XXXIII.]      RESULT    OF    MORTAL    EXISTENCE.  505 

whole  Scriptures  connect  the  whole  revealed  Knowledge  of  God, 
immediately  with  the  whole  question  of  salvation  for  man.  It  is 
in  this  manner  that  the  whole  of  this  attempt  to  present  the 
outward  and  positive  Knowledge  of  God  as  a  system  distinct 
from  the  inward  and  experimental  effects  produced  by  means  of 
that  knowledge,  never  loses  sight  of  the  controlling  fact  that  it  is 
the  Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  that  the  object  of  its 
separate  presentation  is  its  more  distinct  perception,  and  thereby 
a  clearer  appreciation  both  of  itself,  and  its  effects.  Between 
the  inductive  inquiry  into  the  state  of  man,  which  occupies  the 
opening  chapters  of  this  Treatise,  and  the  deductive  inquiry  into 
the  state  of  man,  which  occupies  its  closing  chapters,  it  is  the 
Knowledge  of  God  unto  Salvation,  made  known  by  God  to  man, 
which  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  whole.  And  at  the  close 
of  a  survey  of  this  Knowledge  of  God  unto  Salvation,  thus,  ob- 
jectively considered,  we  unavoidably  turn  to  the  corresponding 
posture  of  man  ;  and  incidentally,  of  the  universe,  as  exhibited 
under  the  whole  knowledge  thus  collected  and  systematized. 
How  are  these  vast  causes,  and  agencies,  and  forces,  to  affect  us  ? 
and  what  is  to  be  our  destiny,  individual  and  general  ?  In  what 
manner  is  the  universe  involved  in  the  result  of  our  destiny  ? 
In  what  way,  and  to  what  extent  does  our  destiny  or  that  of  the 
universe  affect  the  glory  of  God  ?  It  is  such  inquiries  as  these 
which  arise  of  themselves  in  every  thoughtful  mind,  when  it  at- 
tempts to  embrace  as  a  whole,  the  system  of  the  Knowledge  of 
God  :  and  they  reveal  the  grandeur  of  that  knowledge.  The 
detailed  answer  to  such  questions  is  nothing  less  than  another 
vast  system  :  it  is  the  subjective  view  of  the  Knowledge  of  God. 
It  is  the  reality  of  that  which  gives  its  true  value  to  this.  And 
as  every  particular  portion  of  this,  has  its  answering  result  in 
that;  so  also  there  is  a  general  sum  of  the  whole  peculiar  to  each 
of  these  general  aspects  of  Divine  truth.  Let  us  briefly  attempt 
to  sketch,  for  the  one  we  have  been  considering,  some  of  the 
great  outlines,  as  we  contemplate  all  things  from  the  point  now 
attained. 

II. — 1.  At  the  end  of  nearly  six  thousand  years  from  the 
creation  of  man,  one  generation  of  the  human  race,  numbering  a 
thousand  millions  of  souls,  finds  itself  here  in  possession  of  this 
earth.  At  every  instant  multitudes  are  passing  beyond  the  river 
of  death — other  multitudes  of  new  beings  are  bursting  into  life, 


506  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

This  enormous  multitude  of  immortal  creatures,  equally  divided 
as  to  sex,  differs,  each  individual  from  the  rest,  to  the  utmost 
limits  of  nature — providence — chance — fate,  in  all  things  else. 
The  change  of  the  generation  is  incessant  and  irresistible, 
and  after  a  little  will  be  absolute  and  universal :  but  it  is 
so  gradual  and  so  silent,  as  to  produce  no  shock — so  imper- 
ceptible that  no  one  knows  or  can  know  when  one  genera- 
tion is  gone,  and  another  generation  is  come — or  to  what  par- 
ticular generation  he,  or  any  thing  else  exactly  appertains. 
We  are  the  children  of  Adam  ;  unitedly  in  our  day,  we  present 
for  an  instant,  and  at  each  successive  instant,  that  one  living, 
undivided  race  ;  and  the  next  instant,  and  every  successive  in- 
stant it  is  changed,  and  yet  not  changed  :  and  presently  it  is  all 
changed,  and  yet  it  changes  never  !  The  part  at  any  time  on 
earth,  compared  with  the  part  in  eternity,  is  like  one  grain  of 
sand  to  the  mass  of  the  whole  earth  :  and  compared  with  the 
part  yet  to  come — who  knows,  or  can  even  conjecture,  any 
thing  ?  Of  all  these  millions  whose  appalling  number  even  our 
imagination  cannot  distinctly  apprehend,  not  one  was  ever  asked 
whether  he  would  exist  or  not ;  nor  what  condition  he  Avould 
prefer  to  be  born  to ;  nor  in  what  land  or  age.  Not  one  was 
ever  permitted,  let  him  desire  it  ever  so  ardently,  to  pass  into 
annihilation — or  ever  will  be.  Not  one  ever  had  power  to 
change,  in  the  least  particular,  the  essence  of  his  nature ;  to 
avoid  the  infinite  dominion  of  God  ;  to  escape  the  stroke  of 
death ;  to  shun  the  single  and  infinite  alternative  of  being  the 
friend,  or  the  enemy  of  God  ;  or  to  evade  the  judgment-seat  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  great  day,  and  the  eternal  retributions 
which  are  to  follow.  Whatever  there  is  of  evil  in  this  wonder- 
ful condition,  is  abnormal,  and  is  the  fruit  of  the  Fall  of  the  first 
man. 

2.  It  is  a  race  once  perfect,  then  fallen  and  polluted,  and,  as 
such,  lying  under  the  wrath  and  curse  of  God,  and  the  penalty 
of  every  Divine  law  and  covenant  which  was  ever  a  rule  of  obe- 
dience unto  them.  But  it  is  also  a  race  capable,  through  Divine 
grace,  of  restoration  to  the  lost  image  of  God.  And  Divine 
grace,  promised  even  before  sentence  after  their  Fall,  and  before 
their  expulsion  from  the  Garden  of  Eden,  has  been  brought  to 
light  by  successive  and  continually  increasing  manifestations  ; 
until,  through  the  incarnate,  crucified  and  glorified  Son  of  God, 


CHAP.  XXXIII.]      RESULT    OF    MORTAL    EXISTENCE.  507 

the  complete  knowledge  of  God,  through  Grace  unto  salvation, 
has  been  manifested  among  them  for  nearly  two  thousand  years. 
And  now  for  almost  two  thousand  years,  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
been  poured  out  upon  men  ;  the  Word  of  God  in  a  complete  and 
permanent  form  has  been  in  possession  of  men  ;  the  kingdom  of 
God  in  the  glorious  form  of  the  Gospel  Church  has  been  set  up 
among  men.  And  the  proclamation  of  free  pardon  to  all  men, 
and  the  restoration  of  all  men  to  the  image  and  enjoyment  of 
God  in  this  life,  and  to  inconceivable  glory  and  blessedness  in 
the  life  to  come,  upon  condition  of  Faith  in  the  Divine  Saviour, 
and  Repentance  for  sin,  has  been  the  grand  and  peculiar  mission 
of  this  gospel  church  to  this  ruined  race.  It  has  always  been  the 
immediate  duty  of  every  pardoned  sinner,  and  the  aggregate 
duty  of  the  whole  gospel  church,  to  make  this  proclamation,  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  to  every  human  being  ;  and  the  single 
and  unalterable  conditions  of  discipleship  have  always  been — 
deny  thyself,  take  up  thy  cross,  and  follow  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
Regeneration.  So  great  is  the  urgency  of  God  in  the  matter  of 
his  grace,  that  to  enjoy  and  to  make  known  that  grace,  is  the 
peculiar  manner  in  which  he  requires  his  people  to  manifest  their 
love  for  him  and  to  advance  his  glory  :  and  so  exact  is  his  fidel- 
ity to  his  promise  of  pardon  and  restoration,  that  no  penitent 
and  believing  soul  ever  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  that 
was  not  saved. 

3.  The  knowledge  of  God  is  the  means  of  the  recovery  of  man  : 
and  the  sacred  Scriptures  are  the  infallible  rule  of  the  whole  of 
that  knowledge,  as  well  as  the  repository  of  the  chief  part  of  it. 
There  is  a  high  sense  in  which  other  means  of  the  knowledge  of 
God  are  not  only  important,  but  are  Divinely  appointed.  Some 
of  which,  indeed,  are  transcendent  means,  such  as  the  incarna- 
tion of  Christ  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit.  Every  manifestation 
of  God  is  an  object  of  positive  knowledge,  considered  of  itself ; 
nay  of  the  widest  and  most  exalted  knowledge.  But  over  and 
above  this,  and  besides  their  independent  position  as  vast  scien- 
ces, they  are  the  only  means  of  knowledge  of  God  himself — and 
that  is  the  indispensable  means  of  our  salvation.  No  w?ork  of 
the  Spirit  fails  to  augment  the  knowledge  of  God  ;  all  Provi- 
dence tends  directly  to  that  end  ;  the  whole  work  of  Christ  is 
unto  us  a  light  and  a  power  ;  and  to  be  our  Teacher  is  that  part 
of  his  Mediatorial  Work  whereby  he  makes  all  the  rest  intelligible 


508  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK   V. 

to  us.  It  is  not,  of  course,  meant  to  question  the  enlightening, 
quickening,  and  regenerating  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the 
means  of  our  very  fitness  to  know  God  aright :  nor  that  this 
very  work  of  the  Spirit  depends  upon  the  sacrifice  of  Christ ;  but 
to  say,  that  all  is  unto  the  true  knowledge  of  God  in  us  ;  all  are 
parts  of  that  very  knowledge  ;  all  in  its  application  to  us  uses 
that  knowledge.  And  such  is«the  efficacy  of  all  divine  knowl- 
edge, that  even  when  it  does  not  work  in  us  its  whole  effects,  it 
still  accomplishes  that  whereunto  it  was  sent  ;  and  the  soul  in 
which  it  finds  any  lodgment,  if  it  refuses  to  have  peace  with  God, 
can  no  more  have  peace  without  him. 

4.  When  we  consider  that  from  the  moment  of  the  first 
promise  of  God  after  the  Fall  of  man,  this  great  united  race  of 
rational  creatures  descended  from  that  one  man,  were  never  so 
situated  that  they  ought  to  have  lost  the  knowledge  of  that 
promise,  superadded  to  all  that  remained  of  their  primeval 
knowledge  ;  we  might  have  expected  our  condition  to  be  far  bet- 
ter than  it  is,  even  if  God  had  left  the  race  to  itself  from  that 
moment  to  this.  But  when  we  recall  the  wonderful  dealings  of 
God  with  our  race  from  that  primeval  promise  to  the  present 
hour,  all  directed  to  the  perpetuity,  the  increase,  and  the  efficacy 
of  Divine  Knowledge  among  meia  ;  and  then  attempt  to  estimate 
the  course  and  the  vicissitudes  of  this  interminable  struggle  be- 
tween  light  and  darkness,  and  to  sum  up  the  result  in  a  full  and 
just  appreciation  of  the  present  condition  of  our  race  ;  astonish- 
ment, humiliation  and  despair  on  one  side,  and  a  sense  of  the 
infinite  grace,  mercy,  and  long-suffering  of  God  on  the  other  side, 
are  the  natural  emotions  which  the  whole  survey  excites.  We 
cannot  imagine  that  God  will  permit  such  a  struggle  to  be  eter- 
nal ;  and  the  Scriptures  assure  us  that  he  will  not.  The  present 
condition  of  our  race  on  earth,  is  perfectly  anomalous.  It  will 
be,  compared  with  any  measure  we  can  apply  to  God,  or  to  eter- 
nal things,  extremely  transitory.  In  that  sense  speedily,  and 
moreover  suddenly  and  when  the  enemies  of  God  the  least  expect 
it,  the  mortal  career  of  the  race  will  be  closed — its  mortal  exist- 
ence will  be  blotted  out — and  all  the  immense  problems  connected 
with  its  mortal  state  will  be  eternally  solved.1 

5.  At  what  period  of  time,  at  what  point  of  the  mortal  exist- 
ence of  the  human  race,  this  great  catastrophe  will  occur,  is  de- 

1  Mat.,  xxv.  31-46  ;  Rev.,  xx.  pa&sem.  • 


CHAP.  XXXIII.]       RESULT    OF     MORTAL    EXISTENCE.  509 

clared  in  the  Scriptures  to  be  wholly  unrevealed — utterly  unknown 
except  to  God  himself.  The  disciples  asked  the  Lord  as  they 
sat  together  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  to  tell  them  when  the  great 
events  he  had  warned  them  of  should  be.  and  what  should  be  the 
sign  of  his  coming,  and  of  the  end  of  the  world.1  His  answer, 
which  is  full,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  passages  of  the  Di- 
vine "Word,  and  has  been  most  variously  interpreted.  I  have 
nested  in  a  former  chapter  that  the  Doxology  he  affixed  to 
the  Prayer  he  gave  his  disciples  as  a  model  of  all  prayer,  enables 
us  to  understand  such  passages  clearly.  As  to  the  sign  of  his 
coming  of  which  such  frequent  mention  is  made  in  the  Scrip- 
tures,1 and  concerning  which  he  tells  us  it  will  be  like  lightning 
shining  from  one  part  of  heaven  to  the  other  ;3  he  answered  his 
Apostles  by  saying  it  should  appear  after  the  sun  had  been 
darkened,  and  the  moon  had  ceased  to  give  her  light,  and  the 
stars  had  fallen  from  heaven,  and  all  the  powers  of  the  earth 
had  been  shaken  :  that  it  should  be  accompanied  by  the  mourn- 
ing and  wailing  of  all  the  tribes  and  kindreds  of  the  earth  be- 
cause  of  him,  as  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven,  with  powi  r  and  great  glory;9  and  that  it  would 
be  immediately  followed  as  an  inseparable  incident  of  it,  by  his 
sending  his  angels  with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet  to  gather 
together  his  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from  one  end  of  heaven 
to  the  other.4  He  added  two  remarkable  statements  :  Jirst,  that 
heaven  and  earth  should  pass  a  way,  but  his  word  should  not  : 
secondly,  that  the  ]  ersonal  dispensation  set  up  by  himself  and 
embracing  his  kingdom,  power,  and  glory  (so  I  understand  the 
words  rendered — this  generation)^  should  not  pass  away,  till  all 
he  had  been  uttering  should  be  fulfilled.*  Having  thus  fully 
answered,  except  as  to  the  time  when  these  stupendous  events 
should  occur,  his  reply  as  to  that  part  of  the  incpairy  was  most 
specific.  But  of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man ;  no,  not 
the  angels  of  heaven,  but  my  Father  only."  Xot  only,  no  maD 
and  no  angel,  but  not  even  the  Son,  as  Mediator,  knows  that 
day.7     Even  the  ancient  prophets  knew  that  Jehovah  alone  knew 

1  Mat,  xxiv.  3.  s  Dan..  xii.  13  ;  Mat.  xxvi.  64;  Rev.,  L  7-13.  xiv.  14. 

1  Mat.,  xxiv.  27  ;  Luke.  xvii.  24.  *  Msra  dwafitu^  xat  dof-rie  tto/./.tj^. 

*  Mat,  xxiv.  29-31;  Rev.,  i.  7  ;  Acta,  i.  11.  f  H  yevea  avrr]. 
6  Mat,  xxiv.  34.  35,  xvi.  23 :  Mark.  xiii.  30 ;  Luke,  xxi  27,  32. 

*  Mat,  xxiv.  30.  t  Mark,  xJiL  32. 


510  THE     KNOWLEDGE     OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

that  awful  day.1  And  the  Apostolic  Churches  knew  this  so  fully, 
that  Paul  told  the  Thessalonian  Christians  there  was  no  need  of 
his  saying  any  thing  to  them  about  times  and  seasons,  connected 
with  an  event  which  they  perfectly  knew  would  be  as  secret  and 
as  sudden,  as  it  would  be  overwhelming  in  its  ruin  to  all  the 
wicked.2  For  in  the  very  last  interview  of  the  Apostles  with  the 
risen  Lord,  they  had  desired  to  be  informed  of  the  glory  of  Israel, 
and  of  the  immediate  relation  of  Christ's  present  work,  and  their 
own  mission,  to  a  matter  which  lay  so  near  their  hearts.  And  he 
had  put  their  minds  at  rest  by  telling  them  that  the  times  and  the 
seasons  which  the  Father  had  put  in  his  own  power  did  not  belong 
to  them  even  as  his  Apostles,  either  in  a  way  of  knowledge,  or  as 
appertaining  to  their  great  work  :  but  that  they  behooved  to  be 
witnesses  for  him,  and  would  soon  be  anointed  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
for  their  own,  and  widely  different  mission.3  Still,  however,  this 
great  catastrophe  of  all  mortal  things,  is  not  left  as  a  matter  distant 
from  us,  as  well  as  indeterminate  as  to  the  time  of  its  occurrence. 
In  the  same  interview  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  to  which  I  alluded 
at  first,  the  Lord  Jesus,  after  answering  the  inquiries  of  his 
Apostles  about  the  events  he  had  been  predicting,  and  about  his 
second  coming  and  the  end  of  the  world  ;  proceeded  to  explain 
in  succession  the  condition  of  the  human  race,  the  condition  of 
the  visible  church,  and  the  condition  of  believers  taken  one  by 
one,  as  he  would  find  them  when  he  should  come.  The  condi- 
tion of  the  world  in  the  days  of  Noah  is  made  the  type  of  the 
condition  of  the  impenitent  at  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  :4 
the  condition  of  the  church  at  large  when  the  bridegroom  shall 
come,  is  set  forth  in  the  parable  of  the  Ten  Virgins  ;5  and  the 
condition  of  individual  members  of  it  in  general,  when  their  Lord 
shall  come  and  reckon  with  them,  is  set  forth  in  the  parable  of 
the  Talents.6  And  then  immediately  follows  the  account  of  the 
judgment  of  all  nations  by  the  Son  of  man  in  his  glory.7  What 
is  to  be  most  needfully  noted  is,  the  manner  in  which  all  this 
sublime  revelation  is  interspersed  with  urgent  commands  to  all 
men  in  all  ages,  to  watch  for  this  overwhelming  consummation, 
as  an  event  personally  and  infinitely  momentous  to  themselves. 
Watch,  therefore,  said  the  Saviour,  for  ye  know  not  what  hour 
your  Lord  doth  come  :  watch,  for  ye  know  neither  the  day  nor 

I  Zech.,  xiv.  7.         3  1  Thes.  v.  1-3.         3  Acts,  i.  4-S.         *  Mat.,  xxiv.  36-41. 
5  Mat,  xxv.  1-13.  •  Mat.,  xxv.  14-30.  7  Mat.,  xxv.  31-46. 


■  CHAT.  XXXIII.]      RESULT    OF    MORTAL    EXISTENCE.  511 

the  hour  wherein  the  Son  of  man  coraeth  :  be  ye  also  ready,  for 
in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not,  the  Son  of  man  cometh.'  And 
to  the  same  purport  is  the  whole  testimony  of  Scripture.  Nor 
can  it  lie  in  the  mouth  of  any  being  except  God  himself  to  Bay 
token  an  event  he  has  concealed  in  his  own  bosom,  and  reserved 
under  his  own  sovereign  and  unrevcaled  will,  must  or  must  not, 
should  or  should  not  occur  :  nor  is  any  mortal  in  possession  of 
any  knowledge  which  justifies  him  in  saying  one  single  word, 
more  or  less,  than  God  has  said  concerning  it.  What  we  do 
know  is.  that  this  scene  of  things  will  pass  utterly  away  ;  that 
this  will  occur  in  connection  with  the  second  coming  of  the  Son 
of  God  ;  that  this  is,  in  some  sort,  the  sum  of  the  mortal  result 
of  the  grand  problem  of  humanity ;  and  that  it  imports  even- 
human  being  to  act  with  reference  thereto,  as  he  would  with  ref- 
erence to  its  actually  impending  over  him. 

6.  The  obscurity  which  envelops  the  time  in  which  God  will 
perform  these  stupendous  acts,  and  the  occasions  he  will  use  to 
accomplish  them  ;  does  not  envelop  the  subject  in  such  a  way  as 
to  prevent  the  diligent  student  of  the  Divine  Word  from  per- 
ceiving, to  a  great  extent,  what  tilings  will  precede,  what  will 
accompany,  and  what  will  follow  the  extinction  of  the  mortal  ex- 
istence of  the  human  race  at  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord.  In 
the  preceding  paragraph,  I  have  already  repeated,  after  the 
words  of  the  Saviour,  various  events  of  the  most  amazing  grand- 
cur,  under  each  of  those  categories  :  and  probably  not  a  single 
impending  event  connected  with  the  whole  career  of  the  human 
race,  and  with  all  God's  dealings  with  it,  but  might  be  located, 
in  like  manner,  with  reference  to  this  great  glory  of  Christ,  and 
this  great  catastrophe  of  humanity.  Indeed  how  could  it  bf: 
otherwise  ?  Is  not  Christ  the  Creator  of  all  things  ?  Is  he  not 
the  only  Redeemer  of  men  ?  Is  he  not  the  Head  of  the  Xew 
Creation — the  Prince  Messiah,  and  the  only  Ruler  in  Zion — the 
Husband  and  Lord  of  the  Church — and  so  the  Head  over  all 
things  ?  Is  it  not  against  him  that  the  heathen  rage,  that  the 
kings  of  the  earth  conspire,  that  the  people  madly  imagine  all 
vanity  ?  Is  it  not  from  him  that  all  Apostacies  depart  ?  Is  it 
not  his  saints  with  whose  blood  every  Antichrist  is  drunk  ?  Was 
it  not  his  brow  on  which  the  greatest  of  the  world-powers  put 
the  crown  of  thorns  in  mockery  ?     Is  it  not  his  saints  who  are  to 

J  Mat.,  xxir.  42-44,  sxt.  13. 


512  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V.. 

take  the  kingdom  ?  Is  not  lie  the  promised  Seed  who  is  to 
crush  the  head  of  the  old  Dragon — to  put  every  enemy  under  his 
feet — and  at  last  to  triumph  over  death  and  hell  ?  Where  elso 
hut  in  him  are  we  to  look  for  the  end,  any  more  than  for  the 
cause  of  all  things  ?  And  how  can  there  he  any  final  solution 
of  any  thing  except  in  his  presence,  under  his  power,  and  to  his 
glory  ?  The  wonder  is  not  that  the  Scriptures  cluster  every  thing 
around  him,  more  and  more  as  all  things  converge  to  their  sub- 
lime conclusion  ;  hut  the  wonder  is  that  any  saint  should  won- 
der at  it ;  and  the  greatest  of  all  wonders  would  he  if  any  thing 
different  could  have  happened. 

7.  There  are  two  very  different  ways  in  which  it  is  possible 
to  contemplate  this  countless  multitude  which  is  made  up  of  all 
the  individuals  of  the  human  race  during  its  entire  mortal  ex- 
istence. We  may  consider  them  in  the  first  place  as  a  race 
restored  by  the  work  of  Christ,  in  such  sort  that  the  portion 
which  will  perish  at  last  are  exceptional  cases  of  very  peculiar 
lieinousness,  the  stated  and  common  fate  of  the  race  being  sal- 
vation. Or  we  may,  in  the  second  place,  consider  them  as  a 
fallen  and  depraved  race,  the  whole  of  whom  would  perish  not- 
withstanding the  work  of  Christ,  but  for  the  infinite  love  and 
grace  of  God  which  make  that  work  effectual,  in  saving  out  of 
the  race  such  as  are  brought  to  the  obedience  of  faith.  It  is  in- 
deed alleged  that  they  are  all  saved  ;  which,  as  it  is  utterly  in- 
consistent with  our  whole  knowledge  both  of  God  and  man,  need 
not  be  taken  into  consideration  in  this  incidental  way.  And  it 
is  even  alleged  that  they  are  not  a  sinful  race  in  any  serious 
sense,  and  are  not  therefore  in  any  danger  of  perdition  ;  which 
being  contrary  to  the  common  conscience  of  the  race,  requires  no 
attention  in  this  connection.  The  two  methods  of  considering 
the  race,  first  stated  above,  differing  very  widely,  agree  at  least 
in  this,  that  the  final  destiny  of  the  race  is  not  single,  but 
is  double ;  and  that  the  work  of  death,  and  the  work  of  life  ; 
the  Fall  of  man  and  the  recovery  of  man  ;  the  headship  of 
Adam  and  the  headship  of  Christ  ;  the  glories  of  heaven  and 
the  damnation  of  hell ;  are  all  eternal  verities.  They  agree, 
therefore,  that  there  is  an  infinite  reality  in  the  Divine  truth  to 
which  all  our  inquiries  have  been  directed  ;  an  infinite  fitness 
in  it  all  to  the  nature  of  man  under  all  the  vicissitudes  of  that 
nature  ;    and  an  infinite  response  to  the  sum  of  it,  in  the  sum 


CHAP.  XXXIII.]       RESULT    OF    MORTAL     EXISTENCE.  513 

and  result  of  the  destiny  of  the  human  race.  But  alas  !  how 
erroneously  do  we  judge  of  human  nature,  and  how  sadly  do  we 
mistake  the  word  of  God,  and  how  thoroughly  do  we  confuse  the 
proportion  of  Faith,  when  we  reverse  exactly  the  parts  of  this 
fundamental  posture  of  the  human  race,  responsive  to  the  sum 
of  all  our  knowledge  of  God  objectively  considered.  The  human 
race  is  not  a  restored  race,  out  of  which  a  certain  number  are 
lost ;  but  it  is  a  fallen  and  depraved  race  out  of  which  a  certain 
number  are  saved.  It  is,  logically,  immaterial  what  the  propor- 
tion of  the  lost  and  saved  to  the  whole  race,  and  to  each  other 
may  be  ;  but  the  question  as  to  the  mode  is  vital  as  regards  the 
possibility  of  any  salvation  at  all.  For  it  is  absolutely  certain 
from  the  Word  of  God,  and  clear  to  reason  and  experience,  that 
the  absolute  condition  of  human  nature  as  we  know  it  to  be, 
after  all  that  God  has  done  for  the  human  race  taken  as  a 
whole,  and  as  the  absolute  sum  of  the  whole  case  for  all,  is  not 
an  estate  of  salvation  ;  nor  one  that,  of  itself,  tends  to,  or  ter- 
minates in  salvation.  To  make  perdition  exceptional  to  such 
a  state  as  this,  is  in  effect  to  put  an  end  to  the  possibility  of  sal- 
vation by  denying  both  its  nature  and  its  necessity.  By  accept- 
ing salvation  as  exceptional  to  the  actual  condition  and  logi- 
cal destiny  of  the  race,  as  every  thing  now  stands,  we  make 
account  of  eveiy  thing  exactly  as  it  is.  It  is  still  a  fallen 
race,  lying  under  the  penalty  of  death,  but  susceptible  of 
Divine  recovery  :  with  the  primeval  promise  of  a  Saviour  com- 
pletely fulfilled  by  God,  and  the  means  of  restoration  fully 
brought  to  light :  but  these  means  are  rejected  and  defeated 
except  just  so  far  as  they  are  made  effectual  by  the  further  and 
special  grace  of  God  ;  and  the  race  is  lost,  with  a  portion  of  it — 
far  the  greater  portion  it  may  be — saved  through  the  free,  sov- 
ereign, efficacious,  special  grace  of  God.1 

III. — 1.  It  will  simplify  the  matter  in  some  respects  to  con- 
sider it  in  a  strictly  individual  light.  And  this  is  the  aspect  of 
the  subject  which  above  all  is  important  to  each  particular 
being.  For  however  each  of  us  may  be  involved  with  others  in 
common  mercies,  calamities,  sympathies,  and  responsibilities, 
and  that  so  greatly  that  no  one  liveth  to  himself,  and  no  one 
ever  dieth  to  himself ;  and  however  we  may  be  all  stamped  with 
a  universal  nature,  and  enveloped  in  a  universal  progress,  and 

1  John,  xvii.  passim;  Rom.,  xviii.  28-39. 
33 


514  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

united  in  a  universal  brotherhood  ;  still  we  enter  one  by  one 
each  a  separate  personality,  upon  our  strange  and  endless  exist- 
ence ;  we  struggle  thus,  we  depart  thus ;  and  thus  will  we  stand 
before  God  and  give  account  to  him  in  the  great  day.1 

2.  God  has  created  the  human  race,  as  a  whole,  in  no  other 
sense  than  that  he  has  created  all  the  individual  beings  who 
unitedly  make  up  that  race.  In  the  Divine  mind  the  exact 
number  of  these  individuals,  and  the  precise  condition  of  each 
during  its  whole  existence,  was  as  clear  and  as  certain  before  the 
creation  of  the  first  man  as  they  will  be  after  the  fate  of  the  last 
man  is  sealed.  In  his  eternal  Covenant  of  Grace,  the  fact  that 
God  knoweth  them  that  are  his,  is  declared  to  be  the  very  seal  of 
the  steadfastness  of  the  foundation  of  God.4  Nor  is  it  conceiv- 
able how  that  covenant,  or  the  Covenant  of  Works,  could  be 
made  by  an  omniscient  Creator,  concerning  beings  created  by 
himself,  in  such  a  way  as  to  shut  his  eyes  to  facts,  which, 
whether  as  Creator  or  as  Omniscient,  he  was  obliged  to  know  ; — 
facts  which,  as  he  is  the  Infinite  First  Cause,  were  obliged  to 
have  the  root  of  their  possibility  in  his  Divine  Intelligence,  and 
the  root  of  their  future  actual  existence  in  his  Divine  Will. 
Whoever  and  whatever  will  exist  in  time,  is  obliged  to  be  known 
and  willed  from  eternity  by  God  :  each  separate  and  responsible 
existence,  represented  in  the  Covenant  of  Works  by  Adam,  was 
obliged  to  be  individually  known  and  willed  by  God  from  eter- 
nity ;  each  separate  and  responsible  existence  embraced  in  the 
Covenant  of  Grace  through  Christ  was  obliged  to  be  separately 
and  individually  known  and  willed  from  eternity  by  God.  In 
effect  this  is  only  saying  that  things  cannot  be  known  to  be  what 
they  are  not  ;  and  that  nothing  can  exist  without  the  knowledge 
or  against  the  Will  of  God  ;  and  that  nothing  can  exist  with 
both  his  Knowledge  and  Will,  otherwise  than  as  his  Knowledge 
and  Will  saw  and  determined  from  eternity.  It  is  wholly  im- 
material to  the  present  matter  what  the  result  may  be  in  all 
cases,  or  in  any  case  ;  the  thing  is,  that  let  every  case,  or  any 
case,  be  as  it  may,  it  is  absurd  to  say  it  transcends  the  Knowl- 
edge of  God,  or  is  independent  of  the  Will  of  God.' 

3.  Contemplated  from  eternity,  as  creatures  to  commence  an 
existence  in  time,  and  thenceforward  to  exist  forever  :  contem- 
plated, as  they  actually  would  be,  in  connection  with  Adam,  as 

1  E:cl.,  xii.  U;  2  Cor.,  v.  10.         2  2  Tim.,  ii.  19.         '  Eph.,  i.  11 ;  Rom.,  xi.  33. 


CHAP.  XXXIII.]       RESULT    OF    MORTAL     EXISTENCE.  515 

his  descendants,  and  as  united  with  him  in  the  Covenant  of 
Works  ;  contemplated,  therefore,  as  fallen  and  depraved,  each 
soul  created  in  time  by  God,  and  neither  pre-cxistent  nor  pro- 
created, becomes  actually  polluted  from  the  instant  of  its  con- 
nection with  the  flesh  it  is  to  inhabit  ;  that  is,  from  the  instant 
of  the  actual  occurrence  of  its  connection  with  Adam,  through 
whom,  as  the  original  progenitor  and  covenanted  head  of  this 
individual  being,  its  pollution  came  ;  that  is,  from  the  instant 
of  its  actual  contact  with  the  pollution  with  which  its  contact 
had  always  been  thus  contemplated  by  God.  This  is  the  fate 
of  every  human  soul  that  ever  existed,  except  three,  namely,  the 
souls  of  Adam  and  Eve,  which  fell,  and  the  soul  of  Jesus,  which 
did  not  fall ;  and  it  will  bo  the  fate  of  every  future  human  soul. 
Now,  by  means  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  a  remedy  is  provided 
adequate,  in  its  own  nature,  for  the  perfect  restoration  and  sal- 
vation of  these  fallen  human  souls — indubitably  adequate  in  the 
case  of  all  that  will  be  saved,  and,  though  it  concerns  not  the 
present  matter,  adequate  also,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  to  have  saved 
whatever  infinite  number  besides,  God  might  have  been  pleased 
to  create  and  save.  All  that  will  be  saved,  who  are  properly 
called  the  Elect  of  God,  and  who  will  infallibly  be  saved,  be- 
cause, being  the  Elect  of  God,  they  will  be  so  dealt  with, 
through  infinite  grace,  as  to  insure  their  salvation — are  contem- 
plated from  eternity  as  fallen  in  Adam  and  born  in  sin,  as  before 
shown,  and  as  united  with  Christ,  their  covenanted  head,  in  the 
Covenant  of  Grace  :  they  are  contemplated  as  being  redeemed  by 
Christ  and  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  from  the  mo- 
ment that  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  actually  imputed  to 
them,  and  actually  received  by  Faith,  and  they  are  actually 
regenerated  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  which  had  been  always 
contemplated  by  God  concerning  them  actually  occurs,  and  they 
are  pardoned  and  restored  to  the  lost  image  of  God.  Just  as  in 
the  other  case,  so  in  this  ;  from  eternity  they  were  contemplated, 
in  connection  with  their  covenanted  and  natural  head  in  one 
case,  and  with  their  convenanted  and  supernatural  head  in  the 
other  case  ;  and  from  the  moment  of  their  vital  contact  with 
their  head,  that  becomes  actual  which  God  had  always  contem- 
plated as  certain.1 

4.  That  portion  of  the  human  race  that  will  be  finally  lost 

1  Rom.,  v.  12-19;  1  Cor.,  xv.  21-19;  Eph.,  i.  passim. 


516  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

we  know  perfectly,  from  the  Scriptures,  will  be  condemned  for 
their  sins,  and  will,  in  their  own  judgment,  and  the  judgment  of 
men  and  angels,  as  well  as  in  the  judgment  of  God  himself, 
richly  deserve  their  condemnation  ;  nor  is  it  possible  to  imagine 
that  they  would  be  condemned  under  any  other  circumstances. 
As  I  have  already  shown,  even  the  elect  are  chosen  of  God 
from  eternity,  not  in  contemplation  of  them  as  pure  and  de- 
serving God's  love,  but  in  contemplation  of  them  as  polluted 
and  so  as  needing  the  infinite  Sacrifice  of  Christ  and  the  in- 
finite work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  motive  for  all  being  the  infi- 
nite glory  of  God  in  the  manifestation  of  his  infinite  beneficence. 
It  is,  therefore,  impious  and  absurd  to  say  that  God  passes  by 
and  reprobates  those  who  will  perish,  in  the  contemplation  of 
their  being  pure  and  worthy  of  his  love.  They  never  were  con- 
templated as  pure  ;  they  never  were  pure  ;  they  were  always 
polluted  from  the  first  moment  of  their  existence  ;  were  con- 
templated as  such  from  eternity;  were  passed  by  and  reprobated 
being  such  ;  will  be  condemned  as  such  to  all  eternity.  God's 
infinite  grace,  we  may  make  bold  to  say,  would  lead  him  to  for- 
give all  the  sin  in  the  universe,  to  the  utmost  extent  that  was 
consistent  with  the  chief  end  of  all  his  works,  namely,  the  mani- 
festation of  himself  for  his  own  glory.  And  God's  infinite  mer- 
cy in  like  manner,  would  lead  him  to  assuage  all  the  misery  in 
the  universe,  upon  precisely  the  same  condition.  That  there  is 
either  sin  or  misery  in  the  universe,  therefore,  is  for  reasons  that 
even  the  infinite  grace  and  the  infinite  mercy  of  God  respect, 
and  will  respect  forever.  On  the  other  hand,  it  will  not  do  to 
say  that  God  passes  by  and  reprobates  lost  sinners,  merely  on 
account  of  their  sins  either  original  or  actual;  because  as  to  orig- 
inal sin,  the  elect  were  as  deeply  polluted  as  the  reprobate,  and 
as  to  actual  transgressions,  the  great  glory  of  the  Saviour  is,  that 
he  is  able  to  save  unto  the  uttermost,  them  that  come  to  God  by 
him.  The  case,  as  it  actually  occurs,  is  this,  namely :  It  is  the 
unalterable  law  of  God's  being  to  punish  sin,  whose  wages  is 
death  ;  while  it  is  the  unalterable  purpose  of  God's  love  to  be- 
stow eternal  life  upon  sinners  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord. 
Upon  this  human  race  of  fallen  sinners,  both  of  these  aspects  of 
the  nature  of  God  are  exhibited  to  his  eternal  glory  :  on  the 
one  hand,  through  his  electing  love  taking  sinners  out  of  their 
lost  race,  giving  his  Son  to  be  a  sacrifice  for  their  sins,  and  sav- 


CHAP.  XXXIU.]      RESULT    OF    MORTAL    EXISTENCE.  517 

ing  theru  to  the  glory  of  his  sovereign  grace  :  on  the  other  hand, 
in  his  immaculate  rectitude,  leaving  sinners  in  their  sins  to  per- 
ish to  the  glory  of  his  infinite  justice  :  but  doing  both  in  such 
a  manner  that,  on  one  side,  he  is  infinitely  just  while  he  justifies 
the  ungodly ;  and  on  the  other  side,  infinitely  long-suffering  to 
them  that  perish,  insomuch  that  neither  they,  nor  any  one  else 
can  see  how  they  came  to  be  damned,  except  that  they  preferred 
to  have  sin  with  death,  rather  than  holiness  with  eternal  life, 
even  through  the  blood  of  Christ.1 

5.  The  career  of  each  particular  human  being  will  bo,  on  the 
whole,  and  in  the  sum  of  it,  answerable  to  the  single  and  uni- 
versal fact  of  the  fallen  and  depraved  nature  of  all ;  modified 
by  the  equally  universal  fact  that  this  fallen  and  depraved  na- 
ture is  still  a  spiritual,  religious,  knowing,  rational,  and  moral 
nature,  capable  of  restoration  to  God  ;  and  modified  by  the  still 
further  fact  that  portions  of  the  knowledge  of  which  wc  have 
treated  throughout,  have  always  been  within  reach  of  an  im- 
mense multitude  of  them,  and  that  the  whole  of  it  is  required 
by  God  to  be  made  known  to  every  one.  The  sum  of  the  career 
of  each  particular  human  being  of  whom  the  grand  and  single 
additional  fact  is  true,  that  they  are  pardoned  by  God,  regen- 
erated by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  become,  through  sovereign  grace, 
penitent  and  believing  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
will  be  answerable  to  the  influence  of  that  fact  added  to,  and 
modifying  the  facts  before  stated  concerning  their  fallen  and  de- 
praved condition.  And  the  issue  of  the  career  of  each  individ- 
ual in  another  life,  will  be  answerable  to  the  sum  and  result  of 
its  career  in  this  life  ;  so  that  the  eternal  and  unchangeable  state 
of  each  particular  person,  is  the  obvious  and  certain  effect  of  all 
the  foregone  facts  of  its  whole  existence,  and  all  the  influences 
which,  under  those  facts,  have  produced  the  final  result.  A 
primeval  estate,  perfect,  but  fallible  ;  the  Covenant  of  Works  ; 
the  breach  of  it ;  the  foil,  and  universal  depravity  of  man  ;  the 
manifestation  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  ;  and  at  last,  the  coming 
and  work  of  the  Saviour  of  sinners  ;  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  to  the  whole  family 
of  man  ;  the  struggle  of  good  and  evil  in  every  human  soul,  and 
the  manifestation  thereof  in  every  human  life  ;  the  victory  of 
evil  in  every  case  ;  all  this  is  common  to  man.  Then  comes  the 
difference.     Evil  is  allowed  to  have  its  course,  and  ruin  is  per- 

1  Rom.,  vL  23;  John,  ill.  1G-21 ;  Rom.,  ix.  22,  23;  1  Peter,  L  2-5. 


518  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

mi  tied  to  come,  and  hell  is  opened  from  beneath.  But  God  will 
not  he  left  destitute  of  a  seed  to  serve  him  ;  the  blood  of  Christ 
cannot  be  allowed  to  be  fruitless  :  the  eternal  purposes  of  God's 
love  and  mercy  cannot  be  defeated.  And  so,  through  sovereign 
grace  specially  and  effectually  applied  by  God  himself,  a  new 
kingdom,  peculiarly  his  own,  of  which  his  Son  is  the  Head,  his 
Spirit  the  Creator,  his  Word  the  light,  and  his  Elect  the  mem- 
bers, is  taken  out  of  this  lost  race,  at  its  extremity  and  while 
endless  ruin  was  impending.  The  solitary  question  which  lies 
out  of  the  reach  of  all  human  conjecture,  and  upon  which  God 
has  never  deigned  to  offer  a  syllable  of  explanation,  is  precisely 
why  he  saw  fit  to  choose  the  particular  persons  he  did  choose  in 
their  extremity,  and  why  he  saw  fit  not  to  choose  the  particular 
persons  he  did  not  choose.  Why  Adam  instead  of  any  other  out 
of  the  countless  millions  of  possible  human  beings,  was  made 
the  head  of  the  first  creation  ;  or  why  the  man  Jesus  was  taken 
instead  of  any  other  of  the  countless  millions  of  possible  indi- 
vidualizations of  humanity,  as  the  head  of  the  New  Creation  ;  or 
why  any  other  act  of  absolute  sovereignty  should  be  performed  as 
it  is,  and  not  otherwise  by  God  :  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether 
v/e  should  be  able  to  judge,  even  if  it  had  pleased  God  to  reveal  to 
us  as  much  of  his  infinite  thought,  and  motive,  and  purpose,  as 
our  poor  nature  could  contain.  So  far  is  certain — that  but  for 
this  choosing  of  some  by  God  to  eternal  life,  no  one  would  have 
obtained  that  life  ;  that  they  who  obtain  eternal  life,  do  so 
through  no  desert  of  theirs,  but  merely  through  the  sovereign 
grace  of  God  ;  and  that  the  rest  who  perish  do  so  under  circum- 
stances which,  so  far  from  impeaching  the  infinite  rectitude  of 
God,  even  his  infinite  grace  cannot  impeach.1 

IV. — 1.  We  have  now  reached  such  solutions  of  the  immense 
problems  of  existence,  as  the  sum  of  all  our  knowledge  of  God, 
objectively  considered,  seems  to  me  to  conduct  us  to  with  an  irre- 
sistible force  ;  which  I  have  calmly  and  reverently  followed,  with- 
out the  slightest  purpose  or  desire  to  evade  any  result,  or  to  force 
any.  The  total  extinction  of  the  mortal  existence  of  our  race  ; 
the  eternal  continuance  of  its  existence  in  a  future  state  of  being  ; 
the  double  issue  of  eternal  misery  to  a  portion,  and  eternal  bless- 
edness to  the  other  portion  of  the  race  ;  the  connection  of  both 
of  these  issues  with  the  whole  previous  career,  both  personally 
and  representatively,  back  to  the  fountain  of  the  race  in  Ad- 

1  Mat.,  xxii.  1—1-4 ;  Rom.,  viii.  passim;  Rev.,  xx.  jxissim. 


CHAP.  XXXIII.]      RESULT    0~F    MORTAL    EXISTENCE.  519 

am,  of  each  individual  upon  whom  each  issue  falls.  These,  I  must 
allow,  arc  propositions  which  nothing  but  divine  knowledge  can 
make  certain  ;  but  unitedly,  I  must  insist  that  they  afford  a  sub- 
lime and  perfectly  exhaustive  solution,  so  far,  of  the  whole  subject. 

■2.  But  the  solution  goes  for  deeper.  The  primeval  condition 
of  man  was  a  perfect,  but  fallible  condition  :  in  this  condition 
God  entered  into  a  covenant  with  Adam,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  assure  to  him  and  his  posterity  the  endless  possession  and  per- 
petual increase  of  his  primeval  glory  and  blessedness  :  Adam,  by 
his  fall,  lost  the  estate  he  had,  and  forfeited  the  better  estate 
promised  :  all  his  posterity,  corrupt  and  accursed,  are  born  in  sin 
and  misery  :  and  thus  coming  into  existence,  the  depravity  of 
their  nature  insures  their  sinfulness  and  misery  in  this  life,  their 
temporal  death  and  their  endless  perdition.  Here,  again,  each 
one  of  these  statements,  I  admit,  must  rest  for  its  support  on 
divine  knowledge  :  but  here  also,  I  insist  that  unitedly  they  com- 
pletely explain  the  sinful  career  of  man  in  this  world,  and  his  end- 
less perdition  in  the  next.  What  they  do  not  explain  is,  how  any 
human  being  escapes  perdition. 

3.  That  problem  is  also  solved  in  two  stages,  thus  :  Man, 
after  his  Fall,  retained  his  original  nature,  and  continued  his 
identical  self-conscious  existence  :  this  original  nature,  depraved 
but  not  destroyed,  was  capable  of  being  divinely  restored  to  the 
image  of  God  which  it  had  lost  ;  the  method  of  that  restoration 
lay  in  the  miraculous  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  in  human 
nature  ;  and  then  in  this  divine  Saviour's  making,  by  the  obedi- 
ence of  his  perfect  life,  and  the  vicarious  sacrifice  of  his  death, 
such  a  satisfaction  to  divine  justice  that  man  might  be  pardoned  ; 
this  Redeemer,  being  God-man,  and  Mediator  between  God  and 
men,  became  the  infallible  Teacher  of  men,  as  well  as  their  infi- 
nite Ruler  and  their  atoning  Priest,  and  crowned  all  by  the  pur- 
chase through  his  blood,  and  the  sending  from  heaven  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  apply,  inwardly  to  men,  his  whole  work  of  salvation — 
and  to  set  up  and  perpetuate  on  earth  the  Gospel  Church  ex- 
pressly for  the  conversion  and  sanctification  of  every  penitent 
and  believing  sinner,  who  would  accept  salvation  through  Jesus 
Christ.  Once  more,  I  admit,  that  each  of  these  statements  re- 
quires a  divine  confirmation  :  but  I  likewise  insist  that  they  con- 
tain an  exhaustive  solution  of  the  reason  why  the  whole  human 
race  was  not  lost.  Perhaps  what  would  require  explanation, 
Irould  rather  be,  whv  all  were  not  saved. 


520  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

4.  If  wc  should  stop  here,  it  would  prove  that  we  did  not 
rightly  apprehend  either  God  or  ourselves.  In  effect,  so  terrible 
is  the  depravity  of  man,  that  instead  of  accepting  the  Son  of 
God,  they  slew  him.  And  from  that  day  to  this,  the  human  race 
with  one  accord  and  when  left  to  themselves,  have  rejected  him, 
despised  his  Word,  grieved  his  Spirit,  and  persecuted  his  follow- 
ers. If  it  had  not  been  for  the  special  and  unsearchable  grace 
of  God,  and  his  eternal  and  unalterable  purpose  to  have  a  people, 
a  church,  and  an  eternal  inheritance  taken  out  of  this  fallen  and 
depraved  race  of  sinners,  as  monuments  of  his  own  glory  to  his 
whole  universe  throughout  eternity,  not  one  human  being  would 
have  been  saved  at  all.  So  that,  not  loving  us  because  he  had 
given  Christ  to  us,  but  giving  Christ  for  us  because  he  loved  us 
with  an  eternal  and  unalterable  love  ;  God  saves  us,  so  to  speak, 
by  reason  of  the  fidelity  of  that  love,  of  his  jealousy  for  his  own 
glory,  his  own  purpose,  his  own  covenant,  his  own  decree  ;  after 
we  had  not  only  deserved  destruction,  and  rendered  ourselves  in- 
capable of  life  except  through  grace,  but  had  also  rejected  that 
grace,  denied  the  Lord  that  bought  us,  and  slain  the  Prince  of 
life.  Finally,  I  admit  that  these  statements  also  can  be  accepted 
only  on  the  testimony  of  God  himself ;  but  I  insist,  that  they 
contain  a  perfectly  exhaustive  solution  of  the  late  of  the  human 
race,  as  that  fate  has  been  proved  to  be.  If  the}'-  be  true,  there 
is  no  marvel  that  God's  reprobate  enemies  should  perish  ;  no 
marvel  even  that  his  elect  should  not  be  allowed  to  perish.. 

5.  But  the  statements  upon  which  those  conclusions  rest, 
which  develop  the  sum  and  result  of  human  existence,  have 
been  shown,  one  by  one,  throughout  this  Treatise  to  be  insep- 
arable portions  of  that  truth  which  is  divinely  made  known  to 
man  for  his  salvation  ;  and  to  enter  as  to  the  sum  and  result  of 
them,  fundamentally  into  our  knowledge  of  the  being,  nature, 
attributes,  and  works  of  God.  We  have,  therefore,  the  highest 
assurance  we  are  capable  of  obtaining,  whether  from  the  nature 
of  knowledge  itself,  or  from  its  forms,  that  we  have  obtained  the 
knowledge  of  God  objectively  considered,  as  a  science  of  Positive 
Truth.  The  inward  effects  of  this  knowledge  constitute  a  second 
and  separate  view  of  Divine  Truth.  It  is  the  remaining  portion 
of  what  is  commonly  called  Didactic  Theology  ;  according  to 
the  method  I  adopt,  it  is  the  Knowledge  of  God  considered  Sub- 
jectively ;  and  will  be  treated  by  itself. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

THE    FINITE    ABB   THE    INFINITE  COALESCE  IN  RELIGION:    GOSPEL 
PARAIOXE5  :  THEIR  INFLUENCE  AND  SOLUTION. 

I.  "Colon  of  the  Finite  and  the  Infinite  in  Religion. — 2.  Double  Results.  Their  Po- 
sition. Mode  of  Solution. — 3.  Their  influence  upon  our  religious  Belief  and  Expe- 
rience.—4.  Struggles  of  ear..  -  of  unbelief — 5.  Exaltation  ot 
the  Gospel :  confirmation  of  the  souL — 6.  Spiritual  appreciation  of  these  sublime 

1.  There  are  two  elements  in  religion,  one  of  them  Infinite 
and  the  other  Finite,  both  of  which  must  be  constantly  esti- 
mated, if  we  would  have  clear  views  of  its  nature,  or  habitual 
satisfaction  of  mind  in  resting  on  the  whole  compass  of  its  truth. 
On  the  one  side  is  God  himself;  that  perfect,  divine,  and  all- 
pervading  element,  infinite,  both  in  truth  and  force,  and  infinite 
also  in  incomprehensible  mystery.  On  the  other  side  is  man — 
ourself — that  frail  and  erring  element,  which  it  is  our  first  neces- 
sity to  comprehend,  not  only  of  itself  and  positively,  but  also 
relatively  to  God,  and  so  to  the  very  object  of  religion  itself — as 
God  is  its  very  source.  These  two  elements  are  to  be  appreci- 
ated in  every  theoretical  and  every  practical  view  of  religion  :  and 
every  system  must  bring  its  results  into  some  form  that  will  bear 
to  confront  the  settled  truths  of  each  of  these  elements,  consid- 
ered both  jointly  and  separately. 

2.  It  is  the  extreme  difficulty  of  doing  this — indeed  in  some 
most  important  respects  the  apparent  impossibility  of  doing  it, 
which  begets  what  we  call,  for  the  want  of  a  better  name,  the 
Paradoxes  of  the  Gospel.  Those  double  results,  which  are  so 
numerous  and  so  capable  of  perplexing  us  ;  some  of  which,  God 
has  solved  and  united  with  such  sublime  light  ;  some  of  which 
men  dispute  over  interminably  :  multitudes  of  which  superficial 
minds  never  trouble  themselves  to  consider.  Two  things  appear 
to  be  clear  concerning  all  of  them.  The  first  is,  that  they  are  all 
to  be  found  located  along  that  line,  in  which  the  infinite  and  the 
finite — the  divine  and  the  human  elements  in  religion,  at  once 


522  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  [BOOK    , . 

unite  and  are  separated  ;  and  therefore  all  belong,  not  so  much 
to  a  separate  consideration  of  any  particular  part  of  religion,  as 
to  a  general  estimate  of  religion  as  a  system.  The  second  is, 
that  the  only  method  of  their  solution,  is  the  application  to  them 
of  a  simple  evangelism,  and  a  thorough  philosophy,  combined  :  for 
the  lack  of  which,  on  the  one  side  or  the  other,  there  is  sometimes 
found  so  much  extravagance,  and  at  other  times  so  much  shallow- 
ness, in  the  mode  in  which  the  most  important  truth  is  stated. 

3.  It  is  extremely  obvious  that  the  success  of  our  attempts  to 
solve  these  Gospel  Paradoxes  to  our  own  satisfaction,  must  have 
a  controlling  influence  upon  the  tenor  both  of  our  systematic  be- 
lief, and  of  our  spiritual  life.  For,  on  the  one  side,  it  is  an  inex- 
orable demand  of  the  human  intellect,  that  there  must  appear  to 
it  to  be  a  pervading  order  and  coherence  in  all  that  it  recognizes 
as  truth  and  knowledge ;  to  effect  which,  it  will  steadfastly 
labor  upon  all  the  parts  and  proportions  of  all  truth,  and  till 
it  has  accomplished  what  satisfies  it,  is  only  the  more  eager  and 
anxious,  in  proportion  as  its  love  and  pursuit  of  truth  are  the 
more  thorough  and  absorbing.  And  on  the  other  side,  the  inner 
life  of  man  cannot  be  nourished  with  inconsistent  and  contradic- 
tory, with  empty  and  inconclusive  things  ;  any  more  than  his 
poor  tabernacle  of  clay  can  be  fed  by  husks,  any  more  than  it  can 
be  fed  by  jewels  :  but  the  soul  lives  by  a  nurture,  various  and 
deep  in  its  exquisite  assimilation — and  it  pines  when  its  heavenly 
food  is  heterogeneous,  either  in  itself,  or  with  regard  to  it. 

4.  We  often  speak  of  the  difficulties  of  religion  as  presented 
in  the  works  of  infidels  and  heretics.  But  they  are  not  worthy  to 
be  so  much  as  once  thought  of,  when  placed  by  the  side  of  the 
difficulties  which  the  soul  of  the  true  believer  has  mastered. 
Satan  does  not  reveal  his  strength  to  his  willing  followers.  The 
spirit  which  rests  in  the  shallow  doubts  which  outlie  the  wide 
frontiers  of  divine  truth,  never  approaches  the  real  problems 
over  which  the  heart  agonizes,  and  before  which  the  intellect  re- 
coils. If  the  inward  struggles  of  any  earnest  Christian  spirit  in 
the  progressive  development  of  its  divine  life,  were  distinctly  re- 
corded, so  that  they  could  be  carefully  considered  by  others  ; 
they  would  show  nothing  more  clearly  than  the  utter  insignifi- 
cance and  hollow ness,  the  pitiable  ignorance  and  baseness,  of 
the  common  pretexts  of  unbelievers.  These  great  spiritual 
battles  are  fought  around   and   within   these   citadels  —  these 


CHAP.  XXXIV.]      THE    FINITE    AND    THE    INFINITE.  523 

strongholds  of  God,  in  each  of  which  is  intrenched  one  of  these 
great  Gospel  Paradoxes.  And  if  our  eyes  were  opened  so  that  we 
could  see  at  one  glance  the  whole  vanguard  of  the  church  mili- 
tant, we  should  behold  encamped  around,  or  lodged  within  these 
very  battlements,  the  chief  captains  of  the  army  of  the  Lord ; 
some  safely  and  serenely  reposing  on  the  bosom  of  Christ,  hav- 
ing won  the  great  victory ;  some  discomfited,  yet  still  renewedly 
girding  themselves  for  the  life  battle ;  some  calmly  watching  and 
pondering,  till  the  signal  falls  for  a  new  onset  ;  some  in  the  very 
heat  and  desperate  grapple  of  the  imminent  deadly  breach  ! 
Who  can  pass  his  eye,  even  in  thought,  around  their  glorious 
ranks,  without  wonder,  and  love,  and  joy  :  without  perceiving 
under  a  new  aspect,  the  high  communion  of  the  redeemed  of 
God — in  this  form  of  their  union  with  and  in  Christ ! 

5.  It  is  a  fatal  error  to  imagine  that  we  gain  any  thing,  either 
in  the  power  or  the  distinctness  of  our  spiritual  experience,  by 
avoiding  these  sublime  meditations.  And  it  is  another  error 
not  less  fatal,  to  suppose  that  the  Gospel  is  commended  to  the 
soul  of  man,  by  our  poor  attempts  to  lower  the  terms  of  these 
grand  paradoxes,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  or  on  both.  The  diffi- 
culty is  not  created  by  the  Gospel :  it  lies  in  the  infinite  nature 
of  the  case — and  in  the  eternal  nexus  wherein  God  stands  related 
to  his  own  universe.  As  I  have  intimated  before,  so  much  of  the 
difficulty  as  can  be  solved  at  all,  can  be  solved  only  through  the 
most  intense  application  of  the  plan  of  Salvation,  to  the  most 
profound  realities  of  the  case  ;  a  result  to  which  all  superficial 
philosophy  and  all  shallow  evangelism,  unitedly  or  separately, 
are  utterly  incompetent.  Open  them,  as  bottomless  chasms 
across  the  pathway  to  eternity  :  pile  them  up,  as  impassable 
mountains  in  the  way  toward  the  New  Jerusalem  :  and  then  you 
will  not  only  tell  the  whole  truth — but  you  will  so  tell  it  that 
the  soul  of  man  can  both  understand  and  believe  it.  It  is  after 
that,  only,  we  can  know — or  that  we  care  to  know,  how  these 
mountains  can  be  brought  low,  these  valleys  be  filled,  these  rough 
places  be  made  smooth,  these  crooked  ones  become  straight,  and 
a  highway  be  made  for  the  Lord  and  for  his  redeemed  ! 

6.  And  after  all  it  is  not  by  means  of  the  logical  faculty,  that 
man  escapes  perdition.  Our  faith  does  not  stand  in  the  wisdom 
of  man,  but  in  the  power  of  God.  It  is  with  the  heart  that 
man  believeth  unto  righteousness.     It  is  not  merely — nay,  it  is 


524  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF     GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

not  even  chiefly — upon  what  we  call  our  reason  that  the  power 
of  God's  grace  manifests  itself  in  the  new  creation  ;  and  so  it  is 
not  mainly,  much  less  merely,  by  means  of  philosophy — no  mat- 
ter how  pure  and  deep,  that  God  can  he  fully  comprehended, 
much  less  embraced.     How  do  men  blush,  when  they  know  God, 
at  the  bare  thought  of  the  unspeakable  folly  and  littleness  of 
their  former  cavils  against  the  grand  truths  of  the  Gospel — ■ 
nay,  against  the  Gospel  itself — when  they  were  spiritually  dead  ? 
On  the  other  hand,  how  many  are  there,  who  never  questioned 
a  single  one  of  those  glorious  truths,  nay,  who  saw  and  received 
them  all  separately  in  their  power  and  their  simplicity,  as  a  mere 
light,  but  who,  at  the  same  time,  did  not,  and  knew  all  the  while 
that  they  did  not.  receive  a  single  one  of  them,  in  the  divine 
love,  and  the  divine  power  thereof — much  less  in  the  unction 
and  fulness  of  the  divine  proportion  of  them  all  ?     The  things 
of  the  Spirit  must  be  spiritually  discerned,  if  they  are  to  pro- 
duce any  Spiritual  effect.     And  we  must  content  ourselves  to 
accept  only  the  sense  of  the  letter  that  killeth,  and  perish  therein; 
or  we  must  be  born  again.     And   then  we  must  content  our- 
selves, again,  with  such  growth  as  is  possible  from  the  nourish- 
ment of  each  single  truth  accepted  by  itself;  or  if  we  would  go 
on  to  perfection,  we  must  be  strengthened  with  might  in  the 
inner  man.     The  power  in  the  understanding  and  the  power  in 
the  soul — the  philosophy  and  the  evangelism,  by  which  the  pro- 
portion of  faith  itself  becomes  the  grandest  of  all  powers,  next 
after  the  immediate  power  of  God's  Spirit ;  these  are  all  Spirit- 
ual powers — in  the  absence  of  which  all  the  Paradoxes  of  the  Gos- 
pel must  remain  utterly  incomprehensible  to   man.      In  their 
presence,  most  of  them  are  capable  of  a  solution  felt  to  be  com- 
plete, and  generally  capable  of  being  clearly  expressed.     And 
such  as  are  not  yet  mastered  by  us,  are  felt  to  be,  not  contradic- 
tions, but  the  sublimest  truths ;  whose  reversal  would  disorder 
the   universe,  and   derange  the  very  foundations  of  universal 
Knowledge  ;  but  whose  solution  lies  in  some  exalted  generaliza- 
tion, higher  up  in  the  bosom  of  God,  than  our  poor  measure  can 
yet  attain. 


INDEX. 


Abbreviation's. — B.,  book ;  ch ,  chapter;  p.,  page;  par.,  paragraph    pass  ,  passim ; 
see.,  section;  let.,  letter;  id.,  idem. 

A 

Anthropology.     See  argument  of  the  First  Book,  passim. 

Apostles  of  Christ.     B.  II.,  ch.  vii.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  8. 

Attributes  of  God,  general  classification  of  the  Divino  perfections.  B.  III.,  ch.  xvii., 
passim.  Primary  Attributes,  ch.  xviii.  Essential  Attributes,  ch.  xix.  Nat- 
ural Attributes,  ch.  xx.  Moral  Attributes,  ch.  xxi.  Consummate  Attributes, 
ch.  xxii.  , 

Analysis  of  our  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  our  capacity  and  means  thereof,  B.  IV., 
ch.  xxiii.,  passim :  idem,  ch.  xxvi.,  sec.  iii.,  par.  3,  4. 

Angels,  the  doctrine  with  regard  to,  B.  IV,  ch.  xxv.,  sec.  vi.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4. 

Advent  of  Messiah,  B.  I.,  ck  i\\,  passim:  B.  II.,  ch.  vii.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4  :  B.  IV. 
ch.  xxvi.,  sec.  ii.,  iii:  idem,  ch.  xxviii.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  6,  7. 

B 

Being  of  God,  the  mode  thereof  determines  the  plan  of  salvation,  B.  III.,  ch.  xv.,  sec. 
v.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4:  idem,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2,  3:  idem,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2,  3:  the  per- 
fections thereof,  B.  III.,  ch.  xvii.,  general  classification:  ch.  xviii.,  first  class: 
ch.  xix.,  second  class:  ch.  xx.,  third  class:  ch.  xxi,  fourth  class:  ch.  xxii., 
fifth  class :  secondary  demonstrations  of  the  being  of  God,  by  methods  both  d 
priori  and  d  posteriori,  B.  III.,  ch.  xviii.,  sec.  i.,  par.  4. 

Baptism  of  Christ,  B.  II.,  ch.  vii.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2. 

Being  of  Max,  considered  in  it?  immortality,  B.  I.,  ch.  vi.,  pass. :  considered  in  its 
absolute  nature  and  totality,  as  a  manifestation  of  God,  B.  IV,  ch.  xxix.,  pas- 
sim: considered  in  its  creation  and  primeval  state,  B.  V,  ch.  xxx.,  passim. 


Christology.     Sco  Argument  of  Second  Book,  passim,  pp.  71,  72. 

Christ,  relation  of  his  sacrifice  to  the  perpetual  Ministry,  B.  II.,  ch.  vii.,  sec.  ii.,  par. 
7 :  Ilis  Humiliation,  B.  II.,  ch.  x.,  sec.  i.,  ii. :  His  Exaltation,  idem,  sec.  iii. : 
necessity  of  both,  idem,  sec.  iv. :  the-  great  Teacher,  B.  II.,  ch.  xi.,  passim  :  His 
parables,  idem,  sec.  iii.,  par.  6 :  His  miracles,  idem,  sec.  iv.,  par.  4,  let.  a,  b,  c, 
d:  His  priesthood.  B.  II.,  ch.  xii.,  passim:  Ilis  kingly  office,  B.  II.,  ch.  xiii., 
passim:  His  incarnation,  as  a  manifestation  of  God,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxvi.,  passim. 


526  INDEX. 

Creation  considered  as  the  first  and  constant  manifestation  of  God,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxiv. 
passim :  relation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  both  to  the  Old  and  the  New  Creation,  B. 
IV.,  ch.  xxvii.,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2 :  sec.  ii.,  par.  1 :  creation  of  man,  B.  V.,  ch. 
xxx.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6. 

Covenant  of  Works,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxi.,  passim :  its  effect  upon  the  primeval  state  of 
man,  idem,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4 :  scriptural  account  of  it,  idem,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1, 
2,  3,  4,  5,  G,  7,  8,  9,  10:  effect  of  it  on  the  principle  of  Duty,  the  Moral  Law, 
etc.,  idem,  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4 ;  its  advantages,  idem,  par.  5,  letters  a,  b,  c,  d, 
e.  f:  breach  of  the  covenants  of  "Works,  with  the  cause,  manner,  and  conse- 
quences thereof,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxii.,  passim. 

Catastrophe  impending  over  the  human  race,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxiii.,  sea  ii.,  par.  4,  5,  6,  7. 

Certainty,  infallible,  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxiii.,  sec.  iv.,  par.  5. 

D 

Doxology  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  peculiar  significance  of,  B.  II.,  ch.  x.,  sec.  L,  par.  5,  6. 

Divine  Perfections,  B.  III.,  ch.  xvii.,  general  classification :  ch.  xviii.,  perfections 
of  God  as  an  infinite  being:  ch.  xix.,  as  an  infinite  personal  spirit:  ch.  xx., 
those  of  his  infinite  rational  nature :  ch.  xxi.,  those  of  his  infinite  moral  nature : 
ch.  xxii.,  consummate  perfections. 

Divine  Grace,  nature  and  fruits  thereof,  B.  III.,  ch.  xxi.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  5. 

Dcty,  the  true  idea  and  nature  thereof,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxix,  sec.  i.,  par.  7:  duty  and  re- 
sponsibility, B.  V.,  ch.  xxx.,  se«.  iii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7 :  effect  of  the  fall 
of  man  upon  it,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxii.,  sec.  iii.,  par.  6. 

Detailed  Account  of  the  Fall  of  Man,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxii.,  sec.  iii.,  iv. 

Double  Results,  in  religious  truth,  their  cause,  difficulty,  nature,  and  solution,  B.  V., 
ch.  xxxiv.,  passim. 

E 

Exaltation  of  Christ,  B.  II.,  ch.  x.,  sec.  iii.,  iv. 

Estates  of  Christ,  B.  II.,  ch.  x.,  sec.  L,  ii.,  iii.,  iv. 

Expiation,  B.  II.,  ch.  xii.,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5. 

Essences,  material  and  immaterial,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxiii.,  sec.  iv. 

Existence,  mode  of  the  Divine,  B.  I.,  ch.  v.,  sec.  i.,  par.  4,  5,  6,  7 :  B.  III.,  ch.  xv., 
passim:  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxvii.,  sec.  i.,  par.  1. 

Epochs  of  the  New  Creation,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxviii.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9. 

Elements  of  Religion,  their  immutability,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxx.,  sec.  iii.,  par.  6. 

Evil,  origin  of,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxii,  passim :  penal  and  incidental,  distinction  between, 
idem,  sec.  iv.,  par.  5. 

Existence,  sum  and  result  of  mortal,  under  the  whole  dealings  of  God,  B.  V.,  ch. 
xxxiii.,  passim. 

Election  and  Reprobation,  analysis  of  both,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxiii.,  sec.  iii.,  iv. 

F 

Fundamental  Truths.     See  end  of  Argument  of  B.  I.,  p.  2:  end  of  Argument  of  B. 

IT.,  p.  72 :  end  of  Argument  of  B.  III.,  p.  198  :  end  of  Argument  of  B.  IV.,  p 

320:  end  of  Argument  of  B.  V.,  p.  445:  fundamental  elements  of  religion,  B. 

V.,  ch.  xxx,  sec.  iii.,  par.  6,  let.  a,  b:  fundamental  truths  of  it,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxiii., 

sec.  iv.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5. 
Fall  of  Man,  and  origin  of  evil,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxii.,  passim. 
Finite  and  Infinite,  their  coalescence  in  Religion,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxiv,  passim. 


INDEX.  527 


God,  a  demonstration  of  His  being  and  of  the  manner  thereof,  B.  I.,  eh.  v.,  passim : 
His  Revealed  Names,  B.  III.,  ch.  xiv.,  passim:  Mode  of  Existence,  B.  III.,  eh. 
xv.,  passim :  Divine  Perfections,  general  classification,  B.  in.,  ch.  xvii.,  passim  : 
Primary  Attributes,  idem,  ch.  xviii. :  Essential  Attributes,  idem,  ch.  xix. : 
Natural  Attributes,  ch.  xx. :  Moral  Attributes,  ch.  xxi. ;  Manifestations  of  God. 
see  Argument  of  B.  V.,  passim,  and  ch.  xxiii.,  passim:  the  Creator  of  all 
things,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxiv.,  passim :  the  Ruler  of  all  things,  B.  IT.,  ch.  xxv.. 
passim :  Incarnate,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxvi.,  passim :  Manifested  through  the  New 
Creation,  idem,  ch.  xxvii.,  passim:  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  idem,  ch.  xxviii. : 
in  the  human  soul,  ch.  xxix. 

H 

H  :m an"  Race,  its  Ruin,  universal  and  irremediable,  B.  I.,  ch.  iii.,  passim :  Unity  of 
the  Race,  idem,  sec.  L,  par.  2,  letters  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,f.  g:  Misery  of  its  condition, 
idem,  sec.  iL,  passim:  Christianity  accepts  and  solves  this  problem,  idem,  sec. 
iii.,  passim. 

Humiliation-  of  Christ,  B.  II..  ch.  x.,  sec.  i..  ii.,  iv. 

Holy  Gbost,  Doctrine  of,  B.  III.,  ch.  xvL,  passim :  Author  of  the  New  Creation,  B. 
IV..  ch.  xxxviii.,  passim. 

Human  Nature,  God  manifest  in,  B.  IV..  ch.  xxvi..  passim  :  considered  as  a  means 
of  knowing  God,  by  itself,  in  its  fallen  state.  B.  IV..  ch.  xxix.,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2, 
3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9:  in  its  restored  state,  idem,  sec.  iL.  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5:  Ruin 
of  it,  by  the  Fall  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxiL,  passim. 

Headship  of  Adam,  and  of  Christ,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxii.,  sec.  iL,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6. 

I  and  J 

Interposition'  of  God,  to  save  man,  B.  I.,  ch.  iv.,  passim:  sovereign,  gracious,  and 
effectual,  idem,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4 :  method  and  principle  of  that  Interposition, 
idem,  sec.  iL,  par.  1,  2,  3:  motive,  manner,  fact,  and  mode  thereof,  idem,  sec. 
iii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Historic  Christ,  B.  II.,  ch.  viL.  passim. 

Immanuel,  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  B.  IL,  ch.  viii.,  passim:  nis  person,  idem, 
sec.  L,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6:  God  and  man,  idem,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7, 
8,  9:  true  idea  of,  B.  IV.  ch.  xxvi.,  sec.  iL,  par.  1,  2;  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  2. 

Incarnation,  the  highest  manifestation  of  God,  B.  IL,  ch.  viiL,  sec.  ii.,  par.  9:  B.  IV., 
ch.  xxvL,  passim. 

Intercession-  of  Christ,  B.  IL,  ch.  xiL,  sec.  iv.,  par.  1.  2.  3.  4. 

Inspiration-  and  Revelation,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxviii.,  sec.  iiL,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5. 

Individual  aspects  of  both  Covenants,  B.  V.  ch.  xxxiiL,  sec.  iiL.  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5. 

K 

Kingly  Office  of  Christ,  B.  IL,  ch.  xiii.,  passim :  Christ  Royal  and  Divine,  idem, 
sec.  L,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4 :  distinctive  facts,  idem,  sea  L,  par.  5,  let  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  f, 
g:  titles,  idem,  par.  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  11:  Kingly  aspect  of  the  mediatorial  king- 
dom, idem,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  C. 


528  INDEX. 

Knowledge,  sources  of  unto  salvation,  and  certainty  of,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxiii.,  passim : 
of  God  through  Creation,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxiv. :  through  Providence,  idem,  ch. 
xxv. :  through  the  "Word  made  Flesh,  idem,  ch.  xxvi. :  through  the  New  Crea- 
tion, idem,  ch.  xxvii. :  through  Divine  Revelation,  ch.  xxviii. :  through  the 
human  soul,  ch.  xxix. 

Kingdom  of  God,  true  conception  of,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxviii.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  2,  3,  4,  5. 


Life  of  all  created  things  a  perpetual  proof  of  a  Creator,  B.  IV,  ch.  xxiv.,  sea  iL, 
par.  5 :  life,  creation,  etc.,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxix.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5. 


Man,  his  actual  condition,  individually  considered,  B.  I.,  ch.  L,  passim :  socially  con- 
sidered, Household,  B.  I.,  ch.  ii.,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6 :  Civil  Society,  idem, 
sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5:  His  Beligious  Nature,  idem,  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4, 
5,  6,  "? :  Divine  Interposition  to  save  man,  B.  I.,  ch.  iv.,  passim:  His  Immor- 
tality, and  the  true  nature  thereof  demonstrated,  B.  I.,  ch.  vi.,  passim. 

Mediator  between  God  and  men,  B.  II.,  ch.  ix.,  passim :  Necessity  and  nature  of, 
idem,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5 ;  his  Dispensation,  idem,  sec.  ii.,  par.  4,  let.  a,  b, 
c,  d,  e,  f,  g,  h,  i,  j :  Redemption  by  him  as  a  way  of  life,  idem,  par.  5  :  his  two 
Estates,  B.  IL,  ch.  x.,  passim :  his  Offices,  B.  IL,  ch.  xi.,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5. 

Miracles  of  Christ,  B.  II.,  ch.  xi.,  sec.  iv.,  par.  4,  let.  a,  b,  c,  d:  the  nature  of  mir- 
acles, with  a  short  demonstration  of  them,  B.  III.,  ch.  xviii.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  4. 

Moral  Distinctions,  the  true  ground  thereof,  B.  III.,  ch.  xxi.,  sec.  i.,  par.  2,  3 :  idem, 
sec.  vi.,  par.  4,  5. 

Manifestations  of  God,  the  whole  of  them  stated  and  classified,  B.  IV,  ch.  xxiii.,  par. 
1,  8,  9 :  in  Creation,  idem,  ch.  xxiv. :  in  Providence,  ch.  xxv. :  in  the  Plesh, 
ch.  xxvi. :  in  the  New  Creation,  ch.  xxvii. :  in  Revelation,  ch.  xxviii. :  in  the 
Human  Soul,  ch.  xxix. 

Mortal  Existence  of  Man,  its  sum  and  result,  but  general  and  particular,  B,  V.,  ch. 
xxxiii.,  passim. 

N 

Names  of  God,  their  importance  and  import,  B.  III.,  ch.  xiv.,  sec.  i.,  ii.:  Jehovah, 
idem,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7 :  I  Am  and  Jah,  idem,  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  2, 
3 :  El,  idem,  sec.  iv.,  p.  2 :  Lord  of  Hosts,  idem,  par.  3,  4 :  Most  High,  idem^ 
sec.  v.,  par.  1 :  Adonai,  idem,  par.  2 :  Shaddai,  idem,  par.  3 :  Elohim,  idem, 
par.  4.' 

New  Creation,  whole  doctrine  of,  as  a  work  of  the  Spirit,  and  a  manifestation  of 
God,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxviii.,  passim. 

Nature  of  Man,  exposition  of  it,  considered  as  an  image,  and  so  a  manifestation  of 
God,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxix.,  passim. 

0 

Offices  of  Christ,  Prophetic  Office,  B.  IL,  ch.  xi.:  Priestly  Office,  B.  IL,  ch.  xiii.: 

Kingly  Office,  B.  IL,  ch.  xiii. 
Oracles  of  God,  true  conception  of,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxviii.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  6 :  their  power, 

idem,  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  2 :  their  origin,  idem,  par.  3,  4,  5. 
Original  Sin,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxii.,  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  i,  d,  4,  5,  6. 


INDEX.  529 

p 

Pbophetic  Office  of  Christ,  B.  II.,  ch.  xi.,  passim:  true  idea  of  it,  idem,  sec.  iL, 
par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5 ;  its  actual  exercise,  idem,  sec.  iii.,  par.   1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  1 
Divine  confirmation  of  it,  idem,  sec.  iv. 

Parables,  as  distinctive  of  Christ's  teaching,  B.  II.,  ch.  xi.,  sec.  iii.,  par.  6. 

Person,  meaning  thereof,  as  applied  to  the  Godhead,  B.  III.,  ch.  xv.,  sec.  iv.,  par.  1, 

2,  3. 

Providence,  the  whole  doctrine  considered  as  a  manifestation  of  God,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxv., 

passim. 
Primeval  State  of  Man,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxx.,  passi?7i. 
Perdition  and  Salvation,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxiii.,  sec.  iv.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4. 
Pollution  and  Regeneration,  analysis  of  both,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxiii.,  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  2, 

3,  4,  5. 

Paradoxes  of  the  Gospel,  their  nature,  source,  and  effects,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxiv.,  passim. 

R 

Revelation,  the  primeval  form  of  it  by  means  of  the  names  of  God,  B.  III.,  ch.  xiv., 

passim :  the  created  universe  considered  as  a  Revelation  of  God,  B.  IV.,  ch. 

xxiv.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  and  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  2,  3. 
Retribution,  unavoidable  certainty  thereof,  B.  III.,  ch.  xxi.,  sec.  vL,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4, 

5,6. 
Rfstoration  of  man  to  the  lost  image  of  God,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxix.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2,  3 : 

increase  of  divine  knowledge  thereby,  idem,  par.  4,  5. 
Results,  certainty  of  those  reached,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxiii.,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2,  3. 

s 

Soul  and  Body,  distinction  between  them — union — and  endless  existence  of  both, 
B.  I.,  ch.  vi.,  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6. 

Sacrifice,  B.  II.,  ch.  xii.,  sec.  i.,  ii.,  iii. 

Spirit,  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  B.  III.,  ch.  xvi.,  passim :  Nature,  person,  and 
work,  idem,  sec.  i.,  par.  1,  2,  3:  his  relations  to  Immanuel,  and  to  Revelation, 
idem,  sec.  ii.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5:  to  our  knowledge  of  God,  idem,  sec.  iii.,  par.  1, 
2,  3,  4,  5:  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  idem,  sec.  iv.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6 : 
Work  of,  B.  II.,  ch.  xxvii.,  passim. 

Salvation,  in  its  immediato  relation  to  the  Moral  Attributes  of  God,  B.  III.,  ch.  xxi., 
sec.  ii.,  iii.,  iv.,  v.,  vi. 

Special  Providence,  the  doctrine  explained,  B.  IV,  ch.  xxv.,  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  2. 

Sacred  Scriptures,  God  manifested  therein,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxviii.,  passim:  their  con- 
ception of  the  kingdom  of  God,  idem,  sec.  ii.,  par.  3,  4,  5,  6. 

Soul  of  Man,  concerning  its  nature  and  immortality,  B.  I.,  ch.  vi.,  passim :  considered 
as  an  image  of  God,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxix.,  passim. 

Sabbath,  its  origin  and  nature,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxx.,  sec.  i.,  par.  5,  6. 

Sacraments  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxx.,  sec.  ii.,  par.  7. 

Sources  of  Divine  Knowledge.    See  Argument  of  B.  IV.,  pp.  317-320. 

Satan,  his  connection  with  the  Fall  of  Man,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxxiL,  sec.  iii.,  par.  1,  2  • 
idem,  sec.  iv.,  par.  1,  2,  3. 

Sum  and  Result  of  Divine  Knowledge.     See  Argument  of  B.  V.,  passim. 


530  INDEX. 

T 

Theology.  See  Argument  to  B.  III.,  passim,  pp.  197,  198.  See  Preliminary  State- 
ment, p>o^sim. 

Trinity,  Doctrine  of,  fully  discussed,  B.  III.,  ch.  xv.,  passim. 

The  True  and  the  False,  relation  of  that  ineffaceable  distinction  to  God  and  to  man, 
B.  III.,  ch.  xx.,  par.  7:  the  true,  the  good,  and  duty,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxix.,  sec.  L, 
par.  6,  7,  8,  9. 

Tree  of  Life,  and  of  the  Knowledge  of  Good  and  Evil,  B.  V.,  ch.  xxx.,  sec.  ii.,  par. 
5,  6. 

IT  and  V 

Unity  op  Essence  and  Trinity  of  Persons,  Nature  and  effects  of  this  manner  of 

the  divine  existence,  B.  III.,  ch.  xv.,  sec.  hi.,  iv.,  v.,  vi. 
Unpardonable  Sin,  B.  III.,  ch.  xvi.,  sec.  iv.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6. 
Universe,  the  created,  God  manifested  therein,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxiv.,  passim. 
Unity  of  the  human  race,  B.  I.,  ch.  hi.,  sec.  i.,  par.  2,  letter  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  f,  g :  unity 

of  human  nature  in  its  essence,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxix.,  sec.  i.,  par.  4. 

WandX 

"Will,  distinction  betvreen  the  Secret  and  the  Revealed  Will  of  God,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxv- 

sec.  ii.,  par.  3,  4. 
"Word,  The,  made  Flesh,  B.  II.,  ch.  viii.,  passim :  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxvi.,  passim. 
Wonderful  "Working  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  B.  IV.,  ch.  xxviii.,  sec.  hi.,  par.  1,  2,  3,  4. 


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